Broadchurch
by RegalGirl94
Summary: Bonnie, like anyone else in Broadchurch, searching for a peaceful life. But that life is rocked to its core when Danny Latimer is found dead on the beach, and Bonnie sees him everywhere. Alec Hardy rolls into town to take on the case, hating every bit of it, except for her. As the investigation goes on, it taints everything and everyone it touches, until only the truth is left.
1. Chapter 1: Bonnie Irving

**Brand new story alert! While I edit my Teen Wolf story, I'm uploading this, since it's been sitting on my computer for months... I absolutely loved the show Broadchurch, and David Tennant, so this happened... enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

BONNIE IRVING

* * *

Broadchurch was a wonderful small town to settle down in. For years, it had been Bonnie's home. Living above her own book store _Between the Pages_ had been a dream come true. And she got along well with her neighbors and other townsfolk. Even if they thought she was strange and easily distracted sometimes. Sometimes, people even thought they saw her talking to herself. But she was a lovely woman, who did good things for the community. Along with running a book store dedicated to classic literature and second-hand books, it also doubled as a tutoring center for the children in town. She employed teenagers in her effort to give them something constructive to do with their time outside of school, and to help their peers learn. While she took up much of the tutoring herself, she trained many young tutors as well.

Only, no one really knew where she came from. She had moved into town from Wales, that she volunteered readily. But she had an American accent. She had told people that her grandparents were dead and left her the money she used to buy the store and her apartment above it. She said she had an Uncle in Wales and was close with him and his family. But other than that, no one quite knew much about her.

Bonnie Irving was an integral part of Broadchurch, even if she had secrets. She wasn't the only one.

She opened the doors of her shop with a smile on her face, readily greeting one of her employees, Denise. She was a wife and mother, who'd been out of the workforce for almost a decade when Bonnie rolled into town and was salivating for something to do during the day now that all her children had started school. She'd been the first one to come looking for a job, and she was one of the only ones besides Bonnie herself who worked during school hours. Most teenagers worked after school and weekends, since they had their own studies to attend to.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked Denise.

"Oh, I couldn't," Denise waved her off as she did every morning, but silently accepted the cup Bonnie handed to her readily.

It was a normal morning for the most part. Bonnie opened the store with Denise until around nine in the morning, and then went to take her walk along the trail on the cliffs along the beach coast. She stopped at her bench, just up the hill from the Reverend Paul's church. She never attended Church, even though she came off as a spiritual person. Often, she had deep conversations and discussions with Paul about religion and finding faith in the world. And he was one of the only people who didn't question her incessantly when she first moved into town.

When she got to her bench, there was a robed elderly woman sitting there already. "Hello Mrs. McAllister."

The woman looked startled that Bonnie spoke to her, but smiled widely, "Hello Miss Irving!"

"You can call me Bonnie, please," she said as she sat down, looking over the coast.

"Then you must call me Bella."

Bonnie smiled, turning her eyes to the coast. "Beautiful morning isn't it?"

"That it is," Mrs. McAllister sighed blissfully. "What time is it?"

"About half past nine," Bonnie answered after consulting her watch. She turned to the elder woman, "How are you feeling?"

Mrs. McAllister's smile never faded, "Much better, dear. I caught the sunrise. No backache this morning either. It's a much-needed respite from the aches and pains of being an old codger."

Bonnie laughed kindly, "You're not that old."

The women sat in silence for a few moments, just taking in the morning air. Bonnie took a deep breath before squeezing Mrs. McAllister's hand and saying, "I best be checking in at the shop right about now. See how Denise is handling things."

"Right, I think I best be off too," the jolly woman smiled even larger if that were possible. "Frank's probably missing me right about now."

"I'm sure he is," Bonnie smiled before bidding the woman a good morning and making her way back home from the beach. The bell above her shop's door rang as she walked back in, only to see Denise in tears, "Oh, Denise, what's wrong?"

"My mother-in-law passed away this morning. Jake's just gotten the call," Denise sniffled.

Bonnie readily swept Denise up in a hug, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Um, how did it happen?"

"In her sleep, small blessings," Denise said as they pulled away. "We've known this was coming for a while now. I just don't know what to tell the children, they so loved their grandmother."

"Tell them that their grandmother felt no pain, and is in a better place," Bonnie told her confidently. "That's what my parents did when my grandparents died. It doesn't dull the sting, but it helps the grieving to remind yourselves that their pain is over."

Denise smiled, "I hope that's good enough."

"Nothing will be good enough to help with losing such a great woman as Bella McAllister," Bonnie said. "But it's something. Why don't you take off? Check on your husband, pull the kids out of school and take them to the beach to tell them the news. That way they don't associate losing their grandmother with home. My dad took me to get ice cream when my nan passed away."

"That sounds lovely," Denise said. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, go," Bonnie ushered the woman out the shop's doors. Once she was out of sight, Bonnie leaned on the cashier's counter and sighed, her breath coming out in a visible puff of air, as if it were freezing.

"That did sound lovely."

Bonnie wasn't startled to hear Bella McAllister's voice behind her, but she was slightly surprised as she turned to see the woman, "I thought you were off to see your husband?"

Bella smiled, cupping her hands in front of her delicately, "He's been waiting for me for five years. I think he can wait long enough for me to see my family off before I go."

Bonnie nodded, accepting her reasoning, "Then you'll get to see the beach once more before you go."

Bella patted Bonnie's hands on top of the counter, "I always knew there was something special about you, darling. You do something amazing for people like me."

Bonnie awkwardly smiled and clasped her hands around the older woman's, "I'm glad I could help you a little bit."

"You did, dear," Bella nodded and walked through the door, no bell.

* * *

ONE MONTH LATER

The bell above the door brought Bonnie's head out of the clouds. The schools had just let out so plenty of kids were making their way over for tutoring or help with their homework. Bonnie smiled when saw a familiar pair of siblings walk in. "Hello Danny, Chloe. Who needs help today?"

Chloe rolled her light eyes, "I'm just walking him."

Bonnie smiled, "History?"

Danny blushed as he nodded, "Yeah. I don't have the head for dates and names and stuff."

Bonnie chuckled, "To tell the truth, I never did either. But Dotty's got a group going at the orange table if you want to join. They're all around the same place as you so you should have no problem getting the material you need covered. Let me know if you need anything one-on-one and we can arrange something, yeah?"

Danny smiled gratefully, "Thanks, Bonnie," before wandering to the back of the store.

Chloe leaned idly on the front of the counter, "Got any new magazines?"

Bonnie laughed, "You know I don't carry those. Better luck at Jack's spot."

Chloe scoffed, "Thanks anyway. See you later."

Bonnie nodded her off and went back to reading her novel at the front counter. Once four in the afternoon rolled around and one of her counter girls checked in for her shift, Bonnie made her way out of town to get something for lunch, a late lunch. She ended up on the pier, getting fish and chips from a bodega. She was walking while eating when she passed through the boardwalk and bumped her shoulder into a man's walking the opposite direction.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, seeing a disheveled and skinny pale man in a long dark coat and a young girl with short blonde hair walking with him.

The man paused awkwardly and nodded to her, speaking gruffly and without feeling, "Don't worry about it."

"Father daughter outing?" she asked to make conversation.

The man's brow furrowed, "Sorry?"

She was about to introduce herself, starting with the daughter, but then she noticed how the girl seemed serene. How she gazed between her and the man with a peace Bonnie had only ever seen on people on their way out of the world. He couldn't see the girl. And maybe she was his daughter, maybe she wasn't. But now Bonnie probably sounded and looked insane.

"My mistake," she smiled lightly, walking off before he could say anything else. That was close. She could usually tell instantly if someone was on their way out or living. She could usually tell right away. It was helpful to avoid awkward encounters like that one. But she'd missed the signs and made an ass of herself in front of this man. She would have to be more careful.

It had also been a while since she'd seen someone so young. The girl didn't look much older than twenty. It was one of the main reasons she's decided to settle into Broadchurch. In the larger, more populated areas, there were a lot of people on their way out. And the minute they realized she could see them, they wanted to talk to her. Pass on messages. Resolve their leftover issues. Get her to help them move on. She was happy to do it for the most part, but after a while it got emotionally taxing. And then after what happened with Ramona Wilson nearly eight years ago, she knew she needed to get somewhere smaller. Somewhere less populated and nicer. She was glad she found Broadchurch.

* * *

ONE WEEK LATER

Bonnie was opening the shop doors when Denise arrived to run the counter. "Good morning. Where are you off to for your morning off?"

Bonnie smiled and bid her good morning back, "Off to watch the races at the school. I even made pudding cups for the kids." She packed large Tupperware of pudding into a small wagon for her walk to the school. She wheeled it down the main street towards the school with a smile on her face. It was a bit more difficult to drag it through the grass when she reached the school, but one of the teachers rushed to help her. "Thanks Sadie."

"No problem, Bonnie," she smiled as she helped set out most of the pudding cups under a tent they had set up.

Bonnie caught sight of her friend Beth Latimer approaching with a lunch box and purse in hand and waved her over, "Morning Beth."

"Morning Bonnie," the young mother smiled back.

Sadie spoke next, frowning curiously, "No Danny?"

Beth now frowned in confusion, "Oh, I thought he was here."

Sadie shook her head slowly, "No, we haven't seen him today."

"Well, did you register?" Beth asked.

Sadie nodded, "Yeah, we haven't seen him since yesterday."

Beth was instantly worried and walked off to make a phone call. Bonnie came up behind her to hear her saying, "So, you're not at school. Can you give me a call straight away? I just wanna know where you are."

"Didn't answer?" Bonnie asked, a cold stone forming in the pit of her stomach.

Beth shook her head, readily dialing a new number and putting her phone back to her ear, "Jack, it's Beth. Danny did his paper round this morning, right?... Oh, err, okay, did he ring?... No, no, it's fine. I'm just... just not quite sure where he is."

Beth was starting to breath quicker now, her fingers shaking on her phone. Bonnie took her arm in her hands, "Just breathe. We'll get to the bottom of this. Call Mark."

Beth did as told, "Mark, it's me. Ring me now." As soon as she hung up, Bonnie trailed after her as she flagged down Danny's best friend, Tom, "Tom? Tom! Danny didn't say he was going anywhere this morning, did he? He's not in trouble."

Tom shrugged and shook head, walking off after Beth thanked him. Sadie grasped Beth's elbow and asked with concern, "Can I do anything?"

Beth shook her head, lost, "Just give me a call if he shows up."

Sadie nodded, and Beth started walking off. Bonnie contemplated letting her go alone, but as she trailed a few steps behind her, she caught sight of Danny by the gate. He looked haggard and confused, staring at her and Beth. With a sharp gasp, Bonnie realized the tragic truth of his appearance. Especially when she saw that Beth had no reaction. She couldn't see him.

But Beth did hear her gasp and turn to her, "You all right?"

Thinking quickly, Bonnie held her side briefly, "Bit of a stitch in the side. Nothing to worry about. I'd like to come with you, help. Denise has the shop covered."

"All right, thank you, Bonnie," Beth seemed relieved not to go through her worry alone.

They corralled themselves into Beth's car, but quickly got stuck behind a line of cars on the main road. Bonnie felt her heart in her throat when she saw Danny in the back seat.

"Mum? Why aren't we back at school?" Danny's small voice sounded from the back.

Bonnie tried hard to hide her flinch. She quickly turned on the radio.

" _Main road to the coast at Broadchurch is closed. If you are heading to the beach, I suggest you make other plans._ "

Beth was tapping her foot and biting at her thumb nail with nerves. But when she heard the radio, frustration got the best of her and she got out of her car. Bonnie cursed to herself and yanked the keys from the car to turn it off. Beth ducked her head to the car next to her to ask, "What's going on?"

The woman shrugged, "Someone said the police are at the beach. They might have found a body."

Bonnie saw the worst fear a mother could have dawn on Beth's face. And without care to her car or anything else, she took off running.

"Mum!" Danny's voice shouted.

"Beth!" Bonnie shouted for her, glad she wore her trainers. Beth was a runner, and an athletic one. She was hard to keep up with in her flats. But Beth was determined to make it to the beach. When they got there, they could see uniforms holding a perimeter, cutting off a large section of the beach. And in the distance, workers were setting up a scene. One of them were covering a small body with a tarp. Bonnie idly recognized two of the officers. One Ellie Miller. And one being the long coat she'd run into on the pier a week ago, being followed by a young girl no longer living.

Beth was already gasping to herself, pacing back and forth behind the crowd before she ducked under the tape and raced towards the scene. "Oh, God. Oh, god – who's that?"

Ellie looked like she'd been crying already, and looked aghast that Beth was there, "No, Beth, get off the beach."

"What have you found?" Beth cried.

Bonnie raced after her, "Beth, you shouldn't see this!"

She had just reached Beth and gotten her arms around the other woman's waist as Beth started thrashing when she saw the feet and the shoes on them, "Those are his shoes! Those are Danny's trainers!"

It took Bonnie and three other uniforms to get Beth away. She was hysterical, sobbing and screaming and fighting. They started leading Beth away when Ellie grabbed Bonnie's elbow, "Will you see her home? We'll be by soon."

"I've got it covered," Bonnie assured her quickly, rushing off after Beth. One of the uniforms rode them back to the Latimer house, and Bonnie had to walk the mother in.

"It's him. I know it's him. Oh, god," Beth was whimpering in tears.

Liz, Beth's mother, poked her head out of the kitchen and frowned when she saw her daughter in a lurch, "Beth? What on Earth is the matter?"

"I think you both should sit down," Bonnie replied, seeing Danny by the back window, looking confused and sad.

"I'll start a pot of tea," Bonnie quickly offered, disappearing into the kitchen.

"What's going on, Bonnie?" Danny followed her.

Bonnie had to stifle her jump as she turned to look at him, speaking quietly, "Danny, I know this is confusing. I'm so sorry."

"Why is no one seeing me but you?" Danny asked. "Everyone's walking around like I'm not here."

Bonnie had to choose her words carefully. It was always harder when they didn't know. When she had to tell them. "Danny, they found you on the beach this morning. Do you remember what happened?"

Danny frowned in thought, "I remember getting your help with my homework. Chloe brought a magazine."

Bonnie frowned, "That was Monday. This is Friday. Danny," she sighed, crouching down to his level, "they found a dead body on the beach."

Danny seemed in tears, "It was me?"

Sadly, Bonnie nodded, "I'm so sorry. Please, tell me if you remember anything about what happened last night. I cannot believe that you might've jumped..."

Suddenly excited, Danny shook his head quickly, "No, I wouldn't do that! I promise!"

"I believe you," she tried to sooth him. "We will figure out what happened. Sometimes that's all it takes."

"All it takes for what?" he asked.

Again, she had to choose her words carefully, "For you to move on. That's how it seems to work."

"I don't want to go!" Danny protested.

"I know, you're not ready," she said. "That's okay. It'll wait for you to be ready."

When the tea was ready, Danny seemed to realize he had to be quiet and not draw Bonnie's attention do him. It wouldn't do well for her to look crazy in front of his family. Only Liz had accepted the tea when Mark and Chloe got home. Mark was stoic, and Chloe was confused, asking all sorts of questions no one had the answers to.

When Ellie and the skinny man got there, Bonnie made herself useful by going to the door. "Hi Ellie."

"Bonnie, this is DI Hardy," Ellie quickly introduced. "He's taking the lead."

"You are?" the man – Hardy – asked, not seeming to recognize her from the pier. She was grateful for that. She didn't want her bad first impression to get in the way of the investigation. If she looked crazy, they may focus on her and forget what really happened to Danny. Only she knew what must have happened. The only reason she'd seen someone with memory gaps was due to trauma.

"Bonnie Irving," she shook his hand. "I was with Beth at the beach. I'm just a friend."

She led them into the house where Mark, Chloe, Liz and Beth were huddled onto the couch. She went to stand just in reach of Beth on the far left. With just enough room for Ben to stand next to his mum. And just close enough for Beth to reach out to her if need be.

The DI took over the conversation there, sitting heavily in a chair across from them, "I'm Detective Inspector Alec Hardy, and you know DS Miller." Luckily, Bonnie had already set out chairs for him and Ellie. She couldn't sit though. She felt useless sitting.

Looking at Hardy, he seemed heavy. He was lanky and tall, but just looked weighed down. "The body of a young boy was found..."

Beth was quick to the assumption, "It's Danny, isn't it? I saw his shoes."

Mark tried to calm her down, "Plenty of kids have those shoes," before turning to Hardy and saying, "Sorry. You talk."

Hardy looked like he didn't want to say what he had to say next, trying to break the tragic news as easily as possible to this ruptured family. "We believe it's Danny's body."

Liz and Chloe both started crying. Beth was shattered. Like all the air got knocked out of her. She was sobbing almost silently, her body shaking. Mark was forcibly stoic and looked to be holding in tears as he pulled his wife and daughter into his chest and tried his hardest to comfort them. Beth looked to Ellie, "Who is it, Ellie? Was it him?"

With tears welling in her eyes, the DS nodded minutely. She looked like she was frozen.

Bonnie reached around Danny to put her arm on Beth's shoulder while Mark continued trying to comfort them. Liz had silent tears streaming down her face as she tried to be strong. Beth just fell limply into whoever held her, husband or close friend.

"Was it an accident?" Beth asked. "Did he fall?"

"We don't know yet," Hardy answered. "Can you think why he might have been up on the cliffs last night or this morning?"

"He wouldn't have been," Beth determined.

"Well, obviously he was," Mark told her quietly.

"He didn't have any reason to be," Beth insisted.

Liz had forced herself off the couch to making another pot of tea, offering a cup to the detectives and Bonnie before laying some out for her family on the coffee table. After that had been done, she seemed lost. Like she had to be doing something and felt useless otherwise.

"How was Danny over the past few days?" Hardy asked carefully.

"He didn't kill himself if that's what you're suggesting," Mark said quickly. "He's been just... normal. He wouldn't kill himself. He knows he can talk to us about anything."

"And you last saw him when?" he asked.

"I looked in on him... err, about nine o'clock last night," Beth said, thinking to herself about the last time she'd seen her son. "He was laid in bed reading."

Hardy looked throughout the family members' faces, "Anyone see Danny this morning?"

Bonnie almost said yes, remembering him appearing at the school gate. She even opened her mouth. But she stopped herself when she remembered how haggard and confused and bereft Danny had looked at school. The moment she realized the young boy she was so fond of, her close friend's son, was gone. And she had to hold her tongue.

The family collectively shook their heads, while Beth spoke, "No. He was up and out before anyone else. He's got a paper round. But he didn't turn up for that. Jack, I spoke to him. He runs the paper shop."

"Any signs of forced entry or disturbance round the house?"

"No, nothing," Beth said.

It was quiet for a moment before Mark suddenly spoke, "I wanna see the body."

Beth looked disgusted at his words. And Chloe and Liz seemed taken aback. Bonnie had to admit she wasn't surprised. A lot of people needed to see the truth for themselves before they could admit to themselves that someone they love is gone.

"What for?" Danny asked though, not understanding.

"You might be wrong about it being him," Mark justified. "So, I wanna be sure. I wanna see."

Ellie and Mark prepared to go identify Danny's body officially. Bonnie made a quick excuse to go to the bathroom, knowing Danny would follow her. She whispered, "You should follow your father, Danny. He's going to speak to you, and part of him will know that you hear it if you're there. Go."

Danny quietly nodded, perhaps reluctant to walk away from the only person who knew he was there. But he did as she said and followed Mark and Ellie out the door. After that, she made her way downstairs and gave the other women big hugs. "I'm so sorry I have to go. Denise has to see to the kids before her husband gets home. I have to watch the shop."

"Of course," Liz assured the girl.

She hugged Beth extra hard, "If you need absolutely anything just give me a shout. I mean anything."

Beth hugged her back and nodded, wordlessly seeing her off. Bonnie didn't really need to take over for Denise, but she did. She needed to get out of that house, out of their way. It would be difficult to be around them all the time with Danny hanging about. It would be impossible to hide her reaction to the boy no longer with them all the time. She didn't want to let slip the truth and torture them even more with the knowledge that Danny was still trapped on the surface. Still trapped with them but could never communicate with them. That he was around but they could never touch them. She couldn't do that to them.

* * *

Back at the station, Hardy was busy putting together a whiteboard of information, starting with those closest to Danny. "Was Danny Latimer abducted? Did someone gain access to the house? If so, how? If it wasn't forced entry, who has the key? We need to collect any CCTV from a mile radius around the house. Miller – family. Who are they and where are they?"

"Beth had Chloe, their eldest daughter, when she was fifteen," Ellie started informing the team, still reeling from the fact that her close friends, the best friend of her son, was dead. "Mark was seventeen. Mum and daughter were at home watching telly. They say they didn't leave the house until school next morning. Dad was out on an emergency call-out. He's a plumber. He got in around three. Neither parent thought to check on Danny. Gran lives nearby. She was in all evening. The other gran lives in Wales."

Hardy nodded along and regarded everyone, "Until we're ready all of this remains confidential. No gossip. Do you understand?" Everyone nodded and dispersed once he dismissed them. But he flagged Ellie down before she could walk off, "What about that woman who was at their house? The friend?"

"Bonnie Irving," Ellie answered.

Hardy waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't immediately volunteer more information about the woman, he gave her a look.

She jumped with the realization of what he wanted and quickly spoke, "Oh, um, obviously, she's American. She has family in Wales, originally from Scotland. She moved here almost a decade ago and took over the bookshop by the newspaper. It doubles as a tutoring center for kids, she employs a lot of teenagers. That's how she knows the Latimers. Danny used to go there for help with his homework. She, Beth, and I became friends after that. She's even babysat for us from time to time."

"So, you trust her?" Hardy questioned. "Danny would have trusted her?"

Ellie scowled, "I know what you're playing at and yes, we all trust her. But I can't imagine she would have done anything to Danny. That's not her."

"We can't afford to cross anyone off, Miller," he said. "Everyone is of interest as of this moment."

* * *

After the shop was nearly empty for the few hours she'd come back to work, Bonnie decided to let her tutors go home early and close shop for the rest of the day, possibly the whole weekend. She didn't have the concentration she needed to focus on the shop. And it seemed everyone was distracted by the ever-spreading news that a body was found on the beach.

After closing, she got a call from Beth, "Ellie's called and said they're on their way here to talk to us. I think they know how Danny died. Please, will you come hear it with us?"

"I'll be right there," she promised, cursing herself for never learning how to drive in the UK and getting a car. She had to walk everywhere. But luckily, she had some athleticism of her own and made her way into the Latimer household at the same time as the detectives. "Hello again, Mr. Hardy. Hello Ellie."

Feeling a bit awkward from her conversation with Hardy about the younger woman, Ellie smiled and gestured them towards the door. Bonnie knew it was already unlocked and opened the door for them all. She stood with Beth in the kitchen while Hardy told them what she already knew.

"We have some preliminary findings," he said. "We are treating Danny's death as suspicious."

Beth let a gust of air whoosh out of her lungs, leaning on Bonnie for support. "Oh..."

"We think he may have been killed," Hardy continued.

"I should have checked on him before I went to bed," Beth lamented. "If I'd checked..."

"Beth, this is not your fault," Ellie cut in, emotional. "Whatever happened, this is not down to you."

Hardy looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't, opting to say, "I promise... we will find the person responsible. You have my word."

Mark had taken over comforting Beth then, and Liz asked her to pick up some things from the grocery store for them. Which she was only so happy to do. She hadn't seen Danny since he went after Mark, but it still felt cold. He was still trapped.

On her way out the door, she heard Hardy's voice call after her, "Miss Irving!"

She turned around with a forced smile. She didn't want to get to close to the DI, lest he witness something damning. "You can call me Bonnie. Don't have much taste for the surname thing around here."

"I've noticed," he commented. "I'd like to ask you some questions regarding the case. When you've got a spare moment."

"Sure," she tried to stamp down her nerves. "I'm off to pick up some things for the Latimers now, but I should be at the shop soon. It's next to the Echo, across from the Traders. I live above it as well, so just pop round whenever. I'm assuming you'd like to speak without Ellie." At his questioning look, she forced her mouth into a line to hide her frustration at herself for speaking out of turn. "I just mean you don't seem to happy with how emotional she's getting discussing things with the family. Just give her time and a push here or there and she'll understand that work is work."

He seemed a bit uncomfortable before clearing his throat and saying, "Right. I'll be stopping by when I can then." With that said, and Ellie appearing outside, the detectives were off and so was she.

She picked up some essentials from the market for the Latimers, using her own credit card to pay, refusing to take money from Liz. While she was there, she also picked out a nice orchid. She would have gotten a bouquet of flowers, but those would have died in a few days. The orchid would give them something to do with. Sometimes people grieving needed a reason to get out of bed. Even something as simple as taking care of a plant.

When she got herself into their house, Liz busied herself by helping her put things away and thanking her over and over. Some uniforms were also at the house, including their town SOCO, Brian Young. She'd gone out on a couple nice evenings with him. Nothing that ever panned out. She regarded him with a smile, "Hello Brian."

"Hello Bon," he greeted her shortly from the living. Beth was reclined on the couch, staring off into space. Brian cleared his throat for her attention, "I'm going to take Danny's computer away for examination."

Liz poked her head in, "Will they get it back?"

He nodded, "Sure, as soon as we've finished with it."

"It's got his stuff on it," Liz said quietly.

Brian frowned, trying to reassure her, "We'll be careful."

Then Chloe stormed down the stairs with her phone in her hand, "Why have you released his name?" She looked at her mother, "Did you agree to that?"

Beth came out of her stupor, "What?"

Chloe was steaming, "It's on Twitter. From the Broadchurch Echo. Daniel Latimer."

Beth looked to Brian, "Why have they done that?"

Brian seemed just as confused as Bonnie felt. But he couldn't say so, "Talk to the officer in charge."

Beth wasn't so easily consoled, "Nobody told us this was going to happen. Aren't they supposed to consult?" Then she turned to her daughter, "How do you know anyway?"

Chloe looked sheepish now, "I've got a Google alert on _Broadchurch_ and _death._ "

Liz looked scandalized, "Oh, for goodness' sake, Chloe!"

"Well, it's a good job I have otherwise we wouldn't have known," she argued.

"Known what?" Mark's voice filtered into the room as he walked in from the backyard.

"This doesn't make any sense," Bonnie found fit to intervene now. "Ellie wouldn't blindside you like this. And I've met detectives like Hardy. They need to control every aspect of a case like this. Nothing they put out in the press would come from Twitter, it would come from his own mouth."

"Then how do you suppose this happened?" Chloe sniped at her with attitude. "Now everyone knows!"

"Chloe," Liz scolded her granddaughter. This was Bonnie, their friend. Not the police.

"Knowing Olly, he worked it out for himself somehow and the little shit took it upon himself to put it out there," Bonnie thought out loud. "He's salivating for something to separate him from the herd, so he can get on a bigger newspaper."

Mark demanded again, "What did he do?"

* * *

"For God's sake!" Hardy's shout rang through the station as he stormed out of his office. "Bloody Twitter! These people's lives have been destroyed and now our incompetence has made it worse. Think what we have to do now to rebuild trust there. Who told the journalist?"

Feeling chastised already, Ellie weakly stood, clearing her throat, "I think it might have been me."

Hardy turned to her, shocked and angered, "Your nephew?"

Ellie nodded, "He saw Danny's sister at the beach. I didn't tell him anything. I told him not to publish. He's a little shit. I'll read the riot act and I'll explain to the family."

Hardy swallowed, "Go away."

* * *

Bonnie sat clutching hands with Beth as they watched DI Hardy making an official statement. It was the moment of truth.

"This is a short statement to confirm that this morning the body of an eleven-year-old child was found on Harbour Cliff Beach at Broadchurch. The body was subsequently identified as Daniel Latimer, who lived in the town. We are treating his death as suspicious. Our investigations are continuing and there'll be a full briefing later this evening. We ask the media respect the family's privacy at this time. Thank you."

The reporters tried to assault him with a barrage of questions, their camera flashing in his face as he stepped away from the podium.

"Now everyone really knows," Beth breathed, squeezing Bonnie's hands.

Bonnie put her other arm around the woman, "It's good though. Maybe someone saw something and now they'll come forward."

"You think so?" Beth asked in the smallest voice.

"I hope so."

After that, Ellie came by to take Beth out of the house, probably to the beach or another part of it. Bonnie decided to make her way home and bade time for the rest of the day, giving the Latimers time to themselves. They'd call her when they needed her. But it was also a good idea to keep her distance, lest Danny pop up and surprise her in front of them. She couldn't afford for questions to be asked. She had gotten so far in life without exposing her secret.

She had been sitting on her couch in her small apartment, news turned on, for a while. Dinner for one sitting on her coffee table, only half eaten. It was a night like this where she wished she had a cat. She'd only ever had one pet in her life. A puppy her parents had gotten her when she was seven. She'd taken care of it all by herself for the most part. She loved little Teddy, her living Teddy bear. But then he'd been hit by a speeding driver, and after he died, still followed her around everywhere. He'd only moved on when she moved out. She couldn't stomach another pet after that.

She startled when the news briefing for Danny's case started. She let the beginnings of the discussion wash over her. Not really paying attention. Until Hardy appeared. She heard Maggie's voice asking from behind the cameras, "What advice do you have for people in the town, particularly parents?"

Bonnie was hoping this was an isolated incident. She was hoping this wasn't the first of more child murders to come. She couldn't stomach that. She'd have to leave Broadchurch and set up somewhere else. She'd have to start over again.

"The crime rate in this area is one of the lowest in the country," Hardy answered, speaking down into the mics in front of him. "This is a terrible anomaly. We are in the early moments of what might be a complex investigation. Danny's life touched many people and we'll be looking at all those connections. If you or someone you know has any information, has noticed anything unusual, please come forward now. Um, I'd urge everyone, don't hide anything... because we will find out. If a member of your family or a friend or a neighbor has been behaving differently in the past days or weeks, please tell the police immediately. There will be no hiding place for Danny's killer. We will catch whoever did this."

After that, Bonnie couldn't watch anything anymore. So, she shut off the television and turned on her radio to start playing the Beatles. That band always made her feel better. It was her father's favorite. She had already thrown away the rest of her dinner and started tidying the apartment when she decided that she desperately needed a drink. She was slipping on her father's pea coat when her buzzer rang, meaning someone was downstairs wanting to see her.

She made her way down the stairs into her shop and saw Detective Hardy alone through the window waiting. She opened the door with a polite smile, "Hello Hardy. I was beginning to wonder if you were still coming round today."

He took in her coat and commented, "Seems I'm interrupting. You look like you're on your way out."

"Just across the street," she said, gesturing to the Traders Hotel. "I felt like getting a drink. I understand you're staying there. Care to join me? Then you can ask me your questions."

He awkwardly nodded, "Right. Sure."

She locked her door behind her and they crossed the street, taking seats in Becca Fisher's bar. The blonde met them inside and asked, "What can I get you?"

"Usual for me, Becca," Bonnie said as she stripped off her coat and laid it over the chair before sitting at the small table she and the detective chose.

When Becca looked questioningly at Hardy, he just grunted, "A water."

While Becca got their drinks, Hardy got out a pad of paper and ink pen and asked, matter-of-fact, "Can you start by telling me your full name?"

"Bonnie Kenneth Irving," she answered dubiously.

"How long have you lived in Broadchurch?" he asked. "You haven't been here your whole life like some."

"I think it's been seven years now," she told him. "I moved in after school. Wanted the quiet life. Never liked big cities like London. I moved in from Whales, if that's your next inquiry."

"You're American," he stated more than asked but there was still a question in there.

"I left the states after I turned eighteen," she told him.

"Where in the states?"

She hesitated before answering, "I grew up in Richmond, Virginia."

Becca came over then with their drinks, setting them down over napkins. "Enjoy."

"Thanks Becca," Bonnie said before taking a drink from her beer.

Hardy leaned back in his chair, "No one seems to know much about you and your past. Just a few tidbits to keep the questions away."

"I admit I'm a bit private," she shrugged, wracking her head for something innocuous to put him off. "A lot of people who move here are. Broadchurch is the kind of place you come to get away from things if you're not born here."

He seemed like he wanted to say something about her words, but instead chose to ask her something more relevant. "What was your relationship with Danny Latimer and the Latimer family?"

She gestured her head out the front window towards her shop, "My book store is also the local tutoring center. Consequently, I get involved with the school. I met Beth first, since she runs the tourism desk at the Echo, next door to me. I got friendly with Ellie through her. Danny would come in sporadically twice a week to get help with his homework. Chloe would walk him over and then leave."

"Miller mentioned that you've watched the boys on occasion," he commented.

She shrugged, "Sometimes on the odd date night. I haven't for a while. The boys were getting old enough to take care of themselves for an hour or two." She looked down as she said so. Everyone thought eleven was old enough for them to be left to themselves. But look where Danny was now.

"Why were you at the Latimers house when we came by to inform them that we found Danny on the beach?" he asked, taking a quick sip of his water if only to do something.

She took a large gulp of her beer. "I was at the school for the races they hold for the kids. I made pudding. I was with Beth when she realized Danny hadn't shown up for school. Went with her to search."

"You were with her on the beach," Hardy remembered.

She nodded, sagging a bit into her chair, "It was horrible. I can't believe someone would hurt a child."

They were quiet with their drinks for a moment. Until, out of the blue, he asked, "Are you currently in a relationship, Miss Irving?"

She was startled to say the least. "Excuse me?"

He gestured to the coat around her chair, "That's a men's coat."

She laughed, "It was my father's. I kept it after he died. I think it was his grandfather's coat as well."

Hardy couldn't explain the relieved feeling that washed over him at her correction. He tried to choke it down with an awkward clearing of his throat and another drink of his water before he continued, "Right then. Is there anything you can think of that could help us find the person responsible?"

She thought of Danny, of seeing him. But he didn't remember how he died, or who killed him. She hadn't gained any remarkable insight from seeing him yet. And even if he had had something to tell her, she could tell the police without proof or without lying to them. And she couldn't allow them to find out her secret. So, she shook her head, "No, I wish I could."

He just nodded, watching as she slowly drained the rest of her glass. "And where were you last night and this morning?"

She sighed, knowing that question was inevitable. "I closed up shop around nine. I got on skype with my Uncle until around midnight and then went to bed. And I live alone."

He wrote it down. "And your Uncle would confirm that."

She was already tugging his paper over to her and jotting down her Uncles name and number, "Sure. We try to skype every couple of weeks. I try to visit a couple times a year."

"Right then," he said, accepting the information. He thought it was unfortunate that she didn't have an alibi. But he also knew from the post-mortem that they were looking for an adult man.

"What's your first name again?" Bonnie couldn't stop herself from asking, but she could inwardly scold herself. She wasn't supposed to be getting to know him. But the fact that the first time she'd seen him he was being followed by a girl no longer with them, intrigued her. It always intrigued her when people were cared about or important enough to be followed.

He seemed surprised by her question, "Um, Alec."

"Alec," she smiled. "That's a nice name. You can call me Bonnie."

Again, he cleared his throat, "All right. Bonnie. I think that's all for tonight."

"Good, because I can't justify another drink," she joked, getting up and taking their glasses away to the bar.

With awkward movements, he got up and took her coat to drape it over her to help her back into it. "I'll, uh, see you to your door."

"You don't have to," she told him, but didn't say anything when he walked with her down the street to her shop. When she unlocked her door, she turned to say goodnight, but was startled to see the blonde girl from their first meeting standing just a ways off down the sidewalk. She held in her gasp at the sight of the girl. She still looked so serene. Smiling at her and Hardy.

"Miss Irving?" the detective's voice broke her wordless connection with the girl and called her attention back to him. He looked behind him towards the same direction but saw nothing. He seemed concerned and maybe suspicious, "What were you looking at?"

"Bonnie please," she tried to come up with a good lie. "I thought I saw someone. I guess this whole thing with Danny's got me a little on edge. Doesn't help that I live alone above a shop."

"Right then," he said. "If you do need help, or feel unsafe," he dug out a white card from his wallet and handed it to her, "you can give me a shout."

Surprised at the gesture, she accepted the card, "Alec Hardy, Knight in Shining Armor. I'll keep that in mind. And if you need anything, you know where to find me. Even if it's a good cup of tea."

He nodded to her as she went inside, "Goodnight then, Miss... Bonnie."

She smiled, "Goodnight, Alec," as she shut the door and locked it. With a small smile still on her face, she noticed that Alec watched her walk up into her apartment safely before walking back to the Traders.

* * *

 **Let me know what you guys think. I know I've never really done a reality based show without monsters or magic or something. That's kind of why I added my own. And I just had the idea. And... David Tennant... Anyway, let me know what you think!**

 **REVIEW!**

 **RegalGirl94**


	2. Chapter 2: White Tea

**Felt like posting the next chapter. Like I said, this has been sitting on my computer, complete, for a while. Thank you to those who have already reviewed. Enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER TWO

WHITE TEA

* * *

The next morning, Bonnie's whole room felt like ice. And when she finally opened her eyes, she knew why. She saw the blonde girl sitting at the foot of her bed. With a gasp, Bonnie sat up, "You, you're the girl from last night, from a week ago. You follow Hardy."

The young girl shrugged delicately. She said nothing.

"You can't speak anymore," Bonnie realized softly. "You've been gone a while, haven't you?" After a few months, they couldn't communicate verbally anymore. They could project their own emotions and try a solemn game of charades and twenty questions. But that was it.

The girl nodded with a frown. But then she pressed her hands to her heart and mimed a steady beat.

"Did your death have something to do with your heart?" she asked.

The girl shook her head.

"Did someone else have something wrong with their heart?" she asked, trying to get to the bottom of what she wanted to tell her. It had to be important.

The girl nodded, still frowning.

"Hardy?" she fished for something. The girl had to be following him for some reason.

The girl nodded quickly.

"Did he have a heart attack?" she asked, now standing. "Is he in trouble?"

The girl stood too and shook her head vehemently, as if trying to reassure her.

"Is it a heart disease?"

She nodded and then thought, perhaps of the best way to clue her in, and pressed her hands to her heart and mimed beating, irregularly.

"A heart arrhythmia?" she guessed.

The girl smiled and nodded, letting her hands fall to her sides. It was only then Bonnie realized that the girl was in nothing but a small nightgown. It was usually a bad idea to ask people like her blunt questions about their death. So, she chose to stick with their current subject, "You really care about Alec, don't you?"

The girl smiled serenely and nodded. And in the next second, she was gone.

This interaction was the reason Bonnie found herself waiting outside the station with a ceramic portable mug of white tea. When she saw him, and he saw her, they smiled before thinking it awkward. But just as he approached the doors and was about to greet her, he was interrupted by a black-haired woman in a power suit approaching.

"DI Hardy?"

He turned to her and said nothing.

As the woman introduced herself as Karen White from the Daily Herald, Bonnie noticed the blonde girl behind the reporter, glaring daggers into the woman's back.

Alec was saying, "I know. You came to the briefing last night."

"I just wondered if I could buy you a cup of tea," the woman reproached.

Before Bonnie could think about what she was saying and where it was coming from, she was cursing at the woman, "Why don't you piss off!?"

Karen looked positively startled. And even Alec seemed shocked. "Sorry?"

"You heard me," Bonnie blushed when she realized she was channeling the blonde girl's resentment for the reporter in that moment. She stamped it down with a blush. "Blood sucking reporters looking for someone to tear down in the papers. Piss off and let the man do his job."

Trying to hide how chastised she was, Karen walked off, not before telling Hardy that she was staying at the Trader's, 'if he needed her.'

"You've got quite an angry streak there," Alec commented as they walked through the doors.

"It's not been two days and parasites like them are already descending." The anger was now hers. She'd seen how ugly reporters could get for a first page worthy story, no matter the truth and the journey for justice for those that had been wronged.

"Except for the American accent, you sure sound British when you speak," he said, hovering in front of her.

She shrugged, "I've been this side of the pond for about half my life. You pick up different language patterns after a while. But I was too late to pick up the accent." She stood awkward on her feet for a second, trying to stamp down her worry for him now that the blonde had told her about his heart condition. She held out the ceramic thermos, "I've brought you some tea. White tea. It's good for you. Have to start the morning out right."

He seemed surprised, but in truth he was touched by the gesture and accepted the drink, taking a sip. "S'good."

Bonnie blushed and smiled, nodding at his compliment. "Making tea is also something I picked up moving here. I'll let you get to it."

She turned to leave but he stopped her when he said, "This isn't the paper cup you throw away."

She turned back and smiled half way out the door, "You can pop by to return it later if you like."

Awkwardly, he nodded and took another sip of the tea. After she disappeared out the door, Alec made his way upstairs after checking into the front desk for messages. They were getting flooded with people calling about Danny or any small suspicious ting they'd witnessed the last few weeks.

Ellie was there with a smile on her face, "Morning. We got you coffee."

He held up his thermos, "I don't drink coffee," as he walked into his office.

Ellie grimaced, "Course you don't."

* * *

Bonnie was glad that she kept the shop closed for the day. But she was going stir crazy in her apartment. She had nothing to do after stocking the shelves, crunching numbers, or tidying the tables. She was staying away from the Latimers. She hadn't seen Danny since sending him after Mark.

She decided if nothing else, she could take a walk. On her way out her shop door, Becca waved at her from the front. She limply waved back as she made her way down the street, only noticing that she was gaining on Ellie and Hardy's tails. "Hello Ellie. Alec."

They turned briefly and greeted her. Ellie was the one to make good conversation, "Not minding the shop today? Saw the closed sign."

She shrugged, "Nobody's thinking about books or school today. But I was still getting stiff indoors, thought I'd take a walk."

"A jaunt on the cliffs sounds lovely," Ellie commented. "But we've got to head back to the station."

The whole time, Alec didn't take his eyes from Bonnie. But he took Ellie's queue to move on and tipped his head to her, "Good seeing you, Bonnie."

"You as well, Alec," she smiled easily. "Bye Ellie."

Ellie gave Hardy a look as they walked another direction from Bonnie. "What, so you'll call her by her first name?"

He shrugged, uncomfortable, "Doesn't hurt to have as much trust from the locals as we can get."

Ellie looked between them again and hid a smirk. She suspected Hardy was attracted to the woman. She thought if anyone could crack this grouchy exterior her new partner had, it would be the loveliest young single woman in the town. But she quickly became more wrapped up in the discovery that Chloe had gotten her hands-on cocaine for Becca Fisher as they found themselves in the break room of the station. "Cocaine though. It must be a one-off. They're not that type of family. Chloe's not that type of girl."

"Nobody ever is," Hardy told her.

She refused to believe in even the possibility that Chloe was wrapped up in that world, "No, I live here. We don't have these problems. A couple of arrests for possession every month on the estate, but no more than that."

They didn't discuss it much more before they were on their way out to talk to the postman Jack said he'd seen Danny arguing with a month ago. But Ellie had a growing suspicion about the worker from the phone service putting in extra lines for the tip line. He kept looking at officer's desks. And she had to keep scolding them for leaving evidence out. She hoped nothing else leaked.

* * *

Bonnie had been on her bench for the better part of the morning, with a book, when Danny appeared next to her. "I remember something. I don't know if it means something. I don't even know if it has anything to do with when I died."

"What do you remember?" Bonnie asked eagerly. "Anything helps."

"You know that hut up on Briar Cliff?" he asked her. And then he wasn't there anymore.

The sun was at that point in the sky where it started to descend when Bonnie started making her way back into town when she ran into Beth. Beth immediately cried out, "Bonnie, there you are!" and wrapped her arms around the girl. "I stopped in on your shop, but the closed sign was out."

"I couldn't man the store today of all days," she said, readily hugging Beth back. "But it doesn't do well to be cooped up inside all day. I suppose that's why you came out?"

"I tried to go pick up crisps from the store," she answered as she pulled away. "Everyone was staring. 'Sorry for your loss' and all that. Even backed into a pole. Everything is too much. I don't feel like I'm inside my body."

"I imagine everything feels distant right now," Bonnie said as she led the mother over to a bench. "I imagine it feels like you're underwater."

"I'm pregnant," Beth blurted out.

Bonnie didn't say anything at first. She didn't know what to say. The hits just kept on hitting Beth. "Did you realize today? Did you take a test?"

"I've known for a couple weeks," Beth told her. "But things are complicated at home. And now Danny's gone. I don't want another kid. I've had my children."

"I understand this must make everything else just seem so much more overwhelming," Bonnie said carefully, not wanting to preach or tell Beth what to do. "And you do need to think about what's best for you. I can't really speak to pregnancy and kids, or that kind of thing. I never wanted kids."

Beth seemed shocked at those words, and thankful for a new conversation starter, "But it's so clear that you love kids. You're so involved in the school, and with your tutoring. Chloe and Dan loved hanging out with you when you'd come watch them."

"It had nothing to do with not liking kids," Bonnie assured her. "But there's a, um, disposition towards inheriting a genetic disease on my mom's side. She and I are both carriers. But I never wanted to take the chance of passing it on to my kids. I thought about adoption but decided I didn't want to be a single parent. And the whole romance thing never panned out for me."

"Maybe not yet," Beth said with a bit of hope in her voice. She wanted to believe that someone could have a good life. That life could be good.

Bonnie chuckled, "Not a lot of eligible bachelors in these parts. At least none I haven't already met and decided against. But that's okay. I like my little life here. I like helping the kids get their education. I originally planned on becoming a school teacher."

"What happened?" Beth asked.

Bonnie shrugged, "Life, I guess. I adapted, changed plans. I don't really have any regrets about it. I think I did well for myself with the shop and tutoring."

"I think I agree," Beth told her quietly, watching the sun.

* * *

Hardy looked up when Ellie walked into his office and dropped food onto his desk. "What's that?"

"Thai was closed, chippie was the only place open," Ellie sat, sitting on the couch with her own food.

"I can't eat that," he looked at the food as if it were going to grow fur and legs.

Ellie looked at him with disbelief, "You don't eat fish and chips? What kind of a Scot are you?" He didn't answer her right away, so she just shrugged and said, "It's all there is. Eat, or be hungry."

He started to pick at the food as he spoke, glasses perched on his nose, "Postman's alibi's confirmed, four times. He was with his mates all night; the night Danny was killed."

"So, Jack Marshall got it wrong then?" Ellie guessed, biting into her food.

"Do we have any reason to disbelieve the postman?" he said as discussion more than a real question, leaning back in his chair. "How's Marshall's eyesight? Does he have any reason to lie? And do we think that the money and the drugs found at the house are connected? Is that cash for the supply of cocaine?"

"You know you do this incessant list question thing?" Ellie poised for him around her food. "Bam-Bam-bam-bam, so no one's got a chance to reply. It's like you really enjoy it."

He paused, "Do I?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "Can I eat my dinner please?"

She ate in silence for a bit before Hardy asked her, "First murder. How you finding it?"

She looked down, "Grim."

"What did you make of Mark and Beth's list?" he asked.

She sighed, "Heartbreaking. Some of their best friends, Danny's teachers, babysitters, neighbors. They're traumatized, not thinking straight."

"Or smart," he said. "We never asked for a list. Maybe they're trying to direct where we look. Taking focus away from their household."

"They didn't kill Danny," Ellie insisted.

He sighed, frustrated with her, "You have to learn not to trust."

"Oh, oh right," she rambled. "That's what you've been sent to teach me – the benefit of your experience." Just as he was frustrated with her, she was growing more and more frustrated with him the more he talked.

"Look at your community from the outside," he told her, almost like a command.

"I can't be outside it," she said as if the idea was ludicrous. "And I don't want to be."

"If you can't be objective, you're not the right fit," he said.

She glared at him, "No, I am the right fit – it's you who's not. Taking promotions meant for other people, not accepting a coffee or a bag of chips without a great big sigh." She broke off with a humble sigh, "Sorry... sir."

"You need to understand, Miller," he spoke quieter now, "anybody's capable of this murder, given the right circumstances. Most people have a moral compass. Compasses break. And murder gnaws at the soul. Whoever did it will reveal themselves, sooner or later. No killer behaves normally over time. You know the people here. Look for the out of the ordinary. Follow your instincts."

"My instinct tells me the Latimers did not kill their son," she said. "And another thing."

"What?" he grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The Latimers didn't include Bonnie Irving on their list," she revealed. "You and I both noticed that. Even while they're going out of their minds and tossing every name out into the sun, they still trust her. That has to mean something."

Thoughts were whirring in Hardy's head at the information, but he just shrugged to her, "Perhaps."

* * *

Bonnie was almost asleep on her couch with a book on her chest when the buzzer rang. She jolted fully awake and stumbled to her front window of her apartment and pulled back her pretty green curtains to see a disheveled Alec Hardy at her shop's door. She smiled to herself. Then she hurried to put on her house robe and amble down the stairs to her shop door to open it for him. "Hello Alec."

"Um, right," he spoke awkwardly, holding out her ceramic to-go. "Came to return this."

"Thank you, good," she accepted it. "Now I have something for your tea tomorrow."

He coughed slightly, "That's not necessary."

"I didn't say it was necessary. I said I was doing it," she smiled up at him. "You're taking on a terrible murder case. You need to start your day off well."

He didn't know what to say to her and her kindness. And he couldn't help but be suspicious. Was she trying to get close to him, so he didn't suspect her? Could she possibly be interested in him? "How old are you?" he asked, not knowing why.

She let out a startled snort, "Well, I'm going to forgo informing you how rude it is to ask a lady about her age and just answer. I'm thirty. How old are you?"

"Forty," he answered gruffly.

She rose an eyebrow at him expectantly.

"Forty-two," he elaborated. "What brings you to settling in a place like Broadchurch?"

"You mean, why does a woman in her thirties not have a husband or children or a big career in a big city?" she guessed. At least he looked sheepish. "If you want to interview me again, you might as well come inside."

He looked like he wanted to. But he also looked exhausted. "I shouldn't. It's late."

"Right," Bonnie said, nodding. "Why don't you stop by in the morning for your tea? That way I don't have to walk all the way to the station when you're just across the street."

Uncomfortably, he nodded, "Right then. Goodnight, Miss Irving."

"Bonnie," she corrected with a small yawn. "Goodnight Alec."

Quietly, he corrected himself, "Goodnight Bonnie."

* * *

Alec Hardy was walking up to his room at the Trader's when his phone dinged with an incoming text message.

 _Unknown: There has been a suspicious amount of activity late at night at the hut on Briar Cliff. Don't know if it's related to the Latimer kid's death. Thought you ought to know._

* * *

Bonnie felt like she had a frog lodged in her throat when she woke up at the early hour of five AM. Denise had insisted on running the shop for her when she found out Bonnie had been with the Latimers when they were informed of Danny's death, and with Beth when she'd seen Danny on the beach. Denise thought Bonnie was just as affected by the boy's death as anyone else and needed time to get her head on straight. She was thankful, because it was difficult to run things when Danny and the blonde girl kept popping up and distracting her. She hoped they both could move on soon.

She was just pouring another batch of white tea into the portable mug when the buzzer sounded. She smiled when she walked down to see Alec waiting awkwardly outside the shop door. She quickly flipped the open sign and unlocked the door. "Good morning, Alec."

"Morning," he said, reluctantly accepting the mug from her.

"Where are you off to this morning?" she made conversation.

He was already taking a sip of the tea. He had to admit it was good. He wondered why she'd chosen it, since he hadn't thought of trying it before. "You know the hut up on Briar Cliff?"

Bonnie froze. Then forced a casual shrug, "I've heard of it. Never had occasion to go out there. Some young couples use it as a make out spot."

"Oh, really?" the detective was surprised to feel a small smile coming on his face. "And you've never had occasion to go out there, have you?"

She blushed at his implication, "I lived a quiet little life here in Broadchurch. Not a lot of excitement. Until recently, unfortunately." Neither knew what to say, a lull of silence between them. "You can drop that off whenever again. I might have to invest in another portable thermos."

He nodded, "Too right. It is good tea."

"Thank you," she smiled now. "Are you married?"

Startled, he answered shortly, "Divorced."

She nodded. "Kids?"

"I've got a daughter, Daisy," he said.

She nodded again, "It never happened for me. Didn't have a great home life. My mum never loved my father. So, I grew up terrified of settling down with someone who didn't love me. And here I am."

He looked at her, shocked by the open and vulnerable answer she volunteered. He was used to dragging the gritty truth out of people when they fought against him to hide sordid secrets. That was the nature of his job and his life. But he could understand her reasoning. "And here you are."

"Enjoy your day, and your tea," she said as Denise approached for her shift.

Hardy bade a quick goodbye and Denise walked up with a smirk, "Friendly with the new DI, are you?"

Bonnie blushed and ushered the woman into the shop, "Shut up and get to work."

Denise chortled, "Oooh, evasive. Fancy him, do you?"

"I'm off for breakfast, fancy anything?" she changed the subject, already slipping on her father's coat.

"Nothing for me, thanks. I'll handle things here," Denise waved her out with a smile.

* * *

On her walk, she passed the church and could hear tidbits of Paul's sermon. She'd never been a religious person. Some would be surprised given her peek into how the afterlife worked. But she didn't believe in God, just the existence of an afterlife. And sometimes it was hard to believe in people. Especially now, with the killer of a young boy somewhere out there.

She wondered who could possibly have it in them to do something like that. And then to hide among everyone else as if they weren't a monster. She just didn't understand. And she hoped that maybe Danny could remember something useful. Something she could tip off to Alec and end this madness. Unmask the killer and set Danny free.

* * *

"Miller!"

Ellie dutifully got up from her desk and walked into Hardy's office, "What is it?"

Glasses perched on his nose, he was staring at his screen, "CCTV from the car park below the hut." She peered over his shoulder to see a grainy image of a man leaning against his car. And she recognized him. "Mark Latimer."

She gaped, "When is this?"

"The night Danny snuck out of his bedroom," Hardy said, leaning his elbows on the desk.

Ellie didn't understand. "He said he was out on a call. What's he doing?"

"Waiting for someone," Hardy said as if it were obvious.

"How do you know?" she asked, not wanting to believe Mark had lied about his alibi. Why would he?

"I don't, but I bet I'm right," he grunted. The screen went dark then, with no view of who Mark was meeting or when he left. "Tape's run out. Is there another one?"

Ellie looked in the box they'd gotten, but came up empty, "No. They just use the one tape and rerecord over it, to save money."

Hardy smacked his desk, "Bollocks!"

The employee from the phone company, a plain looking man with short dark hair, small glasses, and nothing else worthy of notice, knocked on the open door, "Sorry?"

Ellie looked at him, "Are you done?"

"No, no, it's not that," he spoke quietly and meekly. "It's Danny Latimer you're doing, isn't it?"

Ellie and Hardy immediately turned their suspicious eyes to him. Hardy asked, "Why?"

He shuffled, "It's something to do with water."

"What are you saying?" Hardy stressed, confused with this man's presence.

"I've been told it's something to do with water," he said, almost forcing the words out.

"Told by who?" Hardy asked in clipped tones. He could feel his frustration building.

The man averted his eyes, "I... I have, erm... I have this thing where I... I get – I get messages." He paused before saying, "Psychic messages."

All the tension in Ellie and Hardy both relieved itself and built up even more as Hardy lost his patience, "Oh, for God's sake, who let you in?"

The man reared up defensively, "No, the thing about the water, that's important. Don't just ignore it."

"Oh, come on, out," Hardy pointed to the door.

"It's something that I'm supposed to tell you," he insisted. "Like, he was, he was in a boat. Like he was... he was put in a boat. I don't... I don't know why."

"And who told you this?" Hardy asked expectantly. "Where did you get this from?"

He paused, "Danny."

Thoroughly peeved, Ellie and Hardy dragged him into an interview room. Ellie directed him, "And state your address for the tape."

"57 Whitney Road, Lewiston."

"Where is that?" she asked.

"Erm, it's about thirty miles from here," he answered awkwardly, but forthcoming. "I cover the full region for the company."

"And you're saying Danny Latimer wants us to know that he was put in a boat before he died," Hardy summarized.

"Yes."

Hardy glared at the man with a rising hatred, "And I want you to know that nothing offends me more... than cranks wasting police time."

"I receive messages," the man insisted. "I don't... I don't ask for them. I don't question them."

Ellie asked, "Did the message happen before or after you were sent to install extra phone lines here?"

"After."

Hardy scoffed harshly, "Amazing. I love this – the phone engineer who hears voices from the dead."

He frowned as if he were offended, "I don't want this. It comes to me. Look, you don't want to listen, that's fine."

Hardy laughed without humor, "Oh, you're a reluctant psychic." His face hardened, "A child has _died,_ and you come in with this self-indulgent horseshit."

Ellie kept her calm, "Did you ever meet Danny Latimer?"

"No, never," he shook his head.

"D'you know the family?" she asked expectantly.

"No, I don't think so."

"Do you have any evidence relating to the death of Danny Latimer?" she asked.

Quietly, he said, "No."

She reached to shut off the tape recorder, "Interview terminated at 6:17 PM."

Hardy stared at the man across the table, "You know what happens around a murder, Mr. Connelly? A whole industry grows up, of groupies, and rubberneckers, and people who want to touch the case. You're just the first. Don't let me see you round here again. Get him out."

Hardy started making his way out the door but stopped short when the man's voice stopped him short, "She says she forgives you."

Hardy slowly turned to the man, just sitting there blankly.

"About the pendent."

Hardy didn't want to hear another word and left. Ellie walked out after him while he ranted, "Every big case, these people come crawling out of the woodwork."

"What did he mean about the pendant?" Ellie asked. "Do you know?"

Hardy ignored her questions. "He has the bloody nerve to come in our office! Check his details, find out who he is. Rule him out, just to be sure."

Ellie watched him put on his coat. "What are you going to do now?"

"Mark Latimer lied to us about where he was that night," Hardy growled.

* * *

Hardy led Mark out to the Latimer's backyard, "Erm, Thursday night, the night Danny went missing, where were you?"

Mark gave a small smile to Beth watching from the kitchen window before answering, "On a call-out. Call came through... I dunno, early evening, about half six. Whole family's system had packed in, you know?"

Hardy jotted down into his notes, "How long did that take?"

"Most of the night," Mark answered lethargically. "It was a nightmare boiler, so I was there pretty late."

Hardy sagged, "No. There was no call out. We have CCTV footage of the car park at the top of Briar Cliff. You were there at 7:30."

Mark tried to play it off, "Err, so you're snooping on me now?"

"Well, checking CCTV in the area," Hardy said. "Now, what did you do that night?"

"What am I, a suspect?" Mark deflected.

"The first thing we do is eliminate people from the investigation," Hardy explained. "You tell me where you were, who you were with, how long for, I can eliminate you from suspicion. It's entirely methodical. You don't give me those facts, I can't eliminate you. And if I can't eliminate you, you're a person of interest."

Mark let out a breath of disbelief, "In the murder of my own son?"

"I'm sure this is all very straightforward," he waited.

"I err..." Mark thought, "I met a mate. You know, we drove off together, and then he dropped me back at the car park and err... I came home."

"What time?"

"Three or four in the morning, maybe," Mark shrugged.

Hardy nodded, "What's your mate's name?"

Mark was quiet, before he said, "I can't remember."

Hardy narrowed his eyes at Mark, "Sorry? You can't remember the name of your friend? Where did you go?"

Mark shifted around, "I think we just had a drive around. Bite to eat. Bit of a drink."

"You think?" Hardy spoke louder. "This was three days ago."

"Yeah, and a lot's happened since then," Mark justified.

Hardy caught him looking back to Beth. "And is there any reason you wouldn't want to tell me the name of your mate? This is only about who killed Danny. Nothing else."

"Um..." Mark trailed off. "It'll come back to me. I'm just knackered. I haven't been sleeping, you know, all the stuff on the news. Head's not straight."

"When you came in, you went straight to bed?" Hardy questioned.

"Yeah."

Hardy looked expectant, "Can your wife confirm what time you came back?"

"No. She was asleep," Mark said.

"Mark, who you met – it's a big gap in your recollection," Hardy told him. His phone rang then, and he stepped away to pick up. "What?"

" _I'm at the hut,_ " Ellie answered. " _SOCO think it's where Danny was killed. We found his prints and some blood._ "

"Right. Anything else?" Hardy asked, staring between the grass and Mark, who was watching him back.

" _Yeah, the whole place has been cleaned_ ," she told him. " _But we've also found another set of prints by the sink. I messaged them through to run a match against elimination prints. They belong to Mark Latimer._ "

* * *

 **I absolutely never understood why Mark went the inanely stupid route of lying to the police - very poorly - during his son's _murder_ investigation. But that is how the story goes on the show. Next up... Danny, tears, and Mark.**

 **REVIEW!**

 **RegalGirl94**


	3. Chapter 3: Educated Lies

CHAPTER THREE

EDUCATED LIES

* * *

Bonnie had been paying her bills online at the table of her apartment kitchen when Danny appeared in front of her, in tears. She immediately abandoned her task, "Danny? Sweetheart, what's wrong? Come here."

He collapsed into her arms and she was relieved to feel that he was still solid. "I was at the house. That detective was there asking dad all sorts of questions about where he was that night because they found out he lied about doing a job."

"And?" she prompted when he sagged into the chair next to her.

"He claimed he was with a mate but couldn't remember where they'd gone or who the mate was," Danny cried. "The detective is all suspicious of him now. And I heard him talking to Ellie on the phone. They found where I was killed, at the hut, and my dad's prints are there." He paused to sniff. "Bonnie, I don't want my dad to have killed me."

"Oh, sweetheart," she reached forward to hug him close, "I'm sure that's not what happened. The police will find the truth. Maybe you won't like it, but it's necessary for you to move on."

Danny quieted as they pulled away to look at each other again. "Where will I go when I move on? What's there?"

Bonnie sighed. She got this question a lot. They thought she had all the answers. "I don't know, Danny. I only see this part of the process. I only see when you and people like you linger before you go wherever you go. But I think it's a good place."

Like a light, Danny was gone. And Bonnie was left staring at an empty chair. She felt tears stinging her eyes, swept up in Danny's pain in his wake. It hit her like bricks. And she couldn't stop the sobs ripping themselves out of her throat. She almost fell to the floor from the force of them.

She had no idea how much time had passed when she quieted. She stood in her kitchen and wandered to her bedroom, to her closet. She pulled the doors open and reached up to one of the boxes on the shelf above and pulled it down. She opened it and carried it out to her rubbish bin, pulling out some of the items.

A look inside would let anyone see the mass of newspaper clippings. There was also a small crystal ball, a deck of tarot cards, and sock monkey. She pulled out all the newspaper clippings and dumped them into her rubbish bin. She stared at the crystal ball and tarot cards, and then dumped those on top of the papers. She was done with that life and everything that came with it. But she paused at the sight of the small sock monkey. Pulling it out with a fond smile, she stood and set it down on the couch with her throw pillows. That part of her life belonged here in her new life.

She was surprised when the sun seemed to already be gone and her buzzer was going off. Unfortunately, her eyes hadn't gotten the message to stop producing tears that were still streaming down her cheeks. Still, she could not fight the smile coming onto her face at the thought of seeing Alec Hardy again.

She didn't know when her passing friendliness with the new DI had become a very real affection. She had only been her polite self, and very careful not to set off any red flags. The same as she was with everyone in town. But it had never earned her the butterflies she was being affected by now. She didn't know realistically what could be gained from this unconventional attraction to a grumpy detective. But she was happy to be one of his only friends in town in the meantime.

She hastily wiped at her eyes and slipped on her favorite oversized wool knit sweater – that also used to be her father's – and scrambled downstairs so he wasn't waiting on her too long.

But she hadn't rid her face of enough of the evidence of tears. So, when Hardy saw the red skin around her eyes, moisture on her skin, and the slight redness of her nose, he devolved into cop mode. "Have you been crying? Did someone hurt you?"

"Oh, no, no, no," she rushed to assure him. "I guess I just had my emotional moment. You know, with everything going on."

"Are you sure?" he had to check, not realizing that he had taken a step inside and the door had shut behind him.

She sniffed and wiped her face some more. "I've been trying to stay strong because I've been with Beth so often, but... I loved Danny too."

"Too right," the detective breathed, now finding himself uncomfortably out of his depth with the woman in front of him.

Noticing his discomfort, Bonnie couldn't help but let out a little giggle, "Look at you."

"Look at me, what?" Hardy asked, almost offended, but mostly confused at her sudden amusement.

Bonnie swallowed her giggles, "You're a big deal detective inspector who catches killers, and here you are with the fear of God in your eyes at a crying woman!"

Alec knew she had a point. It was a bit silly to be afraid of tears. "I am still a man," he joked.

She laughed a little more freely now. "Would you like to come up for a night cap? And by that, I mean, more tea." She felt a bit embarrassed when the words came out sounding the way they did, implying what they did.

And it seemed that they did give him pause. But he still nodded, holding up her ceramic thermos. "Well, I do feel bad bringing back a dirty cup for you every night. Might as well wash it myself this time."

She just smiled and lead him to the stairs at the back of her shop that lead up to her apartment door. When he walked in, he was surprised at the size. He always imagined her in a small place. But he guessed it only made sense for it to be the same size as the shop floor beneath them. It looked cozy, and unassuming but welcoming. Like her.

"Would you like some more white tea?" she asked, taking the to-go mug from him and walking into her kitchen. "Or would you like to try chamomile? A cup of that always helps me get to sleep and lord knows half the town needs help with that these days."

"Whatever you make, I'll drink," he replied, a bit distracted. He had meant to follow her into the kitchen and make good on his promise to wash the mug he'd been drinking from the last couple of days. But he got sidetracked when his foot stepped onto a clipping of newspaper. He looked down and noticed that it must have missed the bin when she went to throw it away. But as he bent down to pick it up and throw it away, he noticed a fist sized clear ball – like one's TV psychics used – and a beaten-up deck of tarot cards sitting on a pile of other newspaper clippings. Quickly, he picked up the one on the floor and skimmed the contents, seeing the photo of a young girl, a date, and a name.

"Kettle's on," he heard her voice and footsteps approach. He quickly tossed the paper into the bin and started awkwardly removing his coat, to do something with his hands.

She walked in, a smile on her face, no clue that she'd seen him snooping. She gestured by her door, "There's a coat rack there."

"Right," he grunted, hooking it up and then standing there awkwardly.

She smiled at his demeanor, "Would you like to take a seat?"

With a cough, he followed her to the warm brown couch. He had no idea what an appropriate amount of space between them was. But she was close, but not close enough to touch without reaching out.

"You seem tense," she commented. "Is it being up here with me or is it the case?"

"It's this whole day," he sighed, drawing a hand down his face.

As she went to speak, the kettle startled whistling from the kitchen. She stood to get to it and start their mugs of tea, "I understand if you can't talk about certain details of the case. But I am a good listener and I won't go telling anybody anything."

The thing was, Alec found it very tempting to unload his woes onto this woman. She'd seemed so understanding, and open, and ready to be available to anyone. It seemed like it would be easy to vent to her and she wouldn't judge him. Maybe he could indulge a little.

As she came back into the living room and handed him his tea, he said, "We had extra phone lines put in for the station. The, erm, engineer doing the job came in with this, ridiculous story that he was getting messages from Danny."

Bonnie almost dropped her cup of tea with a sharp gasp. Alec had to reach out and steady her hand slip. She had never met another person who had the extra sight she had that wasn't related to her. "What? What kind of messages?"

Alec scowled remembering Connelly. "Telling us that Danny wanted us to know he'd been in a boat, put on a boat."

Like he'd been called, Danny appeared behind Alec's shoulder. Silently, Bonnie asked him with his eyes if there was any truth to this man's claims. And slowly, with confusion, Danny shook his head.

Bonnie led out an incredulous and humorous puff of air, "What a bastard. Popping up with a cold reading during a child murder investigation."

"Cold reading?" Alec questioned. He'd felt he maybe heard that before.

And now she had to explain what it was and why she knew. With a breath, she tried to explain casually, "Yeah, in my neighborhood when I was a kid, there was this psychic who did readings for a fee. I became acutely aware of all her little tricks to fool people. Cold reading is a technique – they use context clues and vague generalizations to basically guess. Think about it – everyone knows Danny was found on the beach but that he wasn't killed there. So, there's a fifty-fifty shot that he was moved there by the water. And then the killer would need a boat. So that was an easy guess. And he'd been spending time at the station putting in those phone lines. Who knows what he saw."

"My sentiments exactly," he said, taking a sip of his tea. "Makes me sick, the psychic groupies that come in trying to stamp their name on a high-profile case. Worse than reporters to me." He had now become comfortable enough to vent to her. "And he actually played the part of reluctant psychic. Like he didn't want to get these messages, but he had an obligation to pass 'em on."

Bonnie snorted, and then a horrifying thought occurred to her, "Oh god, you don't think he's going to go to the Latimers, do you?"

If possible, Alec's face hardened even more, "If he so much as thinks about it, I'll toss him into a cell and throw away the key."

"Good," Bonnie couldn't help but feel relieved that he shared her sentiments. "I'll help with the handcuffs. People like that – others think they're helping the grieving get closure. But when people think they can still talk to their loved ones somehow, they never really let go."

"You seem to have a lot of the opinions about these kinds of folks," he asked, remembering the things he'd seen in her bin.

Bonnie tried to shrug off his words, "The neighborhood psychic was a very prominent member of my community. She had a far reach. A reach that didn't always help people."

There was a pause where it looked like he was going to ask another question. So, Bonnie quickly finished her tea and asked, "Would you like another cup?" when she saw he'd finished as well.

"Oh, um, no," he said, handing her his empty cup. "I should be shoving off to my room. It's late."

"Right," she said. "Don't forget to come by and pick your morning tea."

She walked him down and out of her apartment and through the shop, then to the door. He coughed awkwardly into his hand as he said, "Thanks for the tea."

"You're welcome."

After they said goodnight, he walked to the Trader's Hotel and paused when he saw Becca at the front desk. He hadn't spoken to her since he and Ellie questioned her about the cocaine she had Chloe get for one of her customers. She'd been more concerned with keeping things quiet than the actual offense.

"You're sure spending a lot of time at the bookstore after hours," she commented with a teasing tone.

He rose a brow at her, "Excuse me?"

She raised her hands defensively, "Don't get me wrong, Bonnie is a sweetheart. But she is... odd."

He didn't say anything. He wanted to let her talk.

And talk she did. "Well, she never talks about her parents. Just some Uncle. And, um," she lowered her voice, even though there was no one else around, "a bit over a month ago, up on a bench by the cliffs, I thought I saw her talking to herself. Like I said, just odd. But nicest girl around, salt to the Earth."

They stared at each other for a while, and Becca felt more uncomfortable the more the silence stretched on. But then Hardy only said goodnight and crawled up the stairs to his room.

* * *

Thoughts upon thought upon thoughts were packing themselves into Alec Hardy's head throughout the next morning. He'd gotten up at an obscenely early hour to check into the crime scene that was the hut now that they knew Danny was killed there. This meant he couldn't stop in on Bonnie and get the tea she'd probably make for him, since he had to shove off to the station to ready for Mark's interview.

"Sorry about yesterday afternoon," Mark said to kick off his interview. "What with everything, I was a little hazy when you asked me those questions."

Hardy wasn't having it. "It's more that you tried to lie."

Mark remained as lethargic as he was yesterday. "I was just confused, I suppose. All the days are blending into one, you know. The boiler that I said I'd done, that was Wednesday night. You know how it is." While he spoke, he looked more to Ellie. As if their friendship and close families would help him at this point.

"And Thursday night, you were with a mate?" Hardy questioned him.

Mark nodded, "I was, yeah."

Hardy didn't hide his skepticism, "But yesterday, you could not remember their name."

"It was Nige, who I work with," Mark answered quickly.

"So, you couldn't remember the name of the man you work with all day?"

Mark shrugged with forced casualty, "Just the shock, I suppose, doing funny things."

Ellie finally spoke, "We'll check with Nige."

Mark nodded with more ease to her, "Yeah, you go ahead, El."

Hardy sighed as he reached into a file and slid a photo of the hut across the table for Mark to look at. "You know where this is?"

Mark peered at it, "Yeah, that's the rental place on Briar cliff, ain't it?"

"Ever been there?"

"Yeah, I was there a weekend or two back," Mark said. "It was a burst pipe."

Ellie shuffled in her seat, "When you say a weekend or two back-"

"I dunno, three at the outside," he said. "Nicky, who does our paperwork for us, she'd have the exact date on the old invoice. She's away with the kids this week, though."

"If it's a rental property, who called you out?" Hardy asked.

Mark shrugged, "I dunno. This woman. I can't remember her name. I picked the keys up from her at the caravan park."

"Just you and your mate, Nige?"

"No, just me," Mark shook his head. "It was an emergency call-out. They were all worried about getting the place flooded or something. Nige was away with his mum."

"Mark, do you own a boat?" Alec asked carefully.

"Yeah."

* * *

"A boat, prints at the murder scene and an alibi made up overnight." Hardy led Ellie back up to their offices from the interview room. "Ask Pete what Mark told Beth about Thursday night. See if it marries up. And while we check, Mark stays here."

"Know what it'd do to that family, and town, if it was Mark?" Ellie asked him just outside his office. She felt sick at the thought that it could be Mark.

Hardy looked at her, back in boss mode, "What are you looking for, Miller, an easy answer to this? The least pain? It won't work like that."

"I know," she insisted, frustrated with his attitude.

"Do you?" he asked her. "Really?" He made to go into his office and dismiss her. But then his creeping thoughts of what he'd seen and heard in Bonnie's apartment filtered into his mind again. He poked his head out of his office before she walked off and called her back, "Miller. Also, get Daniels to run a basic background check on Bonnie Irving."

"Sir? But we know we're looking for a man," Ellie questioned, wondering if they were really looking at her as a suspect. Even less so than Mark, she couldn't see Bonnie harming anyone. Least of all a child. The woman loved children.

"She hasn't got a good enough alibi for the time Danny was killed and we need to rule her out," he justified, ducking into his office quickly before she could say another word. Sitting at his desk, he already felt tired. He wondered if it was because he hadn't been able to get tea from Bonnie this morning. Or if it was just because he hadn't seen her today.

He didn't have time to think about it. He couldn't let himself get too close to her until they ruled her out. He wasn't here to make friends anyway. He was here to solve Danny's murder.

* * *

Bonnie had decided to stay open for the day. She couldn't justify staying closed too long, she did have bills to pay. And she was glad she'd decided to when people started stopping by, including parents thanking her for opening again so their kids could resume their tutoring and have a place to go after school let out.

She was disheartened when most of the morning had passed and Alec had never stopped by to get his tea. She hadn't seen the blonde girl since the last time when she'd told Bonnie about his heart condition. She didn't know what to make of that. Maybe it meant she was following someone else she cared about. Maybe it meant she moved on. Maybe it meant she was blacked out. Time would tell.

After a bit, after Denise came in, Danny showed up on the sidewalk outside of her shop. She'd made some excuses and stepped out the shop door, whispering, "What is it?"

"They've arrested my dad," Danny whimpered. "For obstruction."

He flickered out the next second and behind where he'd been, Bonnie was startled to see Beth storming out of the newspaper. Without thinking, she ran after her friend, "Beth, honey! What's happened?" She looped her arm through Beth's, so she was forced to slow down and talk to her.

"I can't be in that house, I feel useless!" Beth told her. "I tried to go back to work. I just want to do something, Bonnie."

Bonnie continued walking with her, "Let me guess – Maggie carted you out. Said you aren't ready to come back."

Beth looked at her, "I guess you agree with her."

Bonnie guiltily nodded, "I do think it's too soon to jump into your old routine. But it probably isn't healthy to sit around and do nothing if that's what's driving you crazy."

Beth nodded along, "I just need to keep busy. I tried cleaning the bathroom, but I just kept seeing Danny's shampoo."

"Getting out of the house is probably a good start," Bonnie told her. "And if you ever desperately need _something_ to do, you can stop by the bookstore anytime. It's just me or Denise during school. It's boring work most of the time, manning the desk, putting books back in the right spot."

"I don't care about boring," Beth said. "Thank you."

They continued onto the trails along the grass and the cliffs. Until the found Bonnie's favorite bench and contented themselves to sit down and watch the waves. Beth sat on the outside and was glad to have Bonnie's hand to clench. They stared at the water when a voice interrupted their silence.

"Do you mind if I erm...?" The women turned to see a man gesturing to the empty side of the bench. Bonnie shook her head and he sat down. "Thanks." Beth hadn't so much as given him a second glance. Bonnie didn't like the way he glanced over. "I love this view." Neither woman said anything in response. Beth was taking in the view, and just thinking that her son would never see it again.

The man shuffled so he was tilted towards them, "Sorry if this is rude, but I know who you are."

"Great," Beth scoffed.

"I can't even imagine what it's like for you," he said.

"No, you can't," Bonnie looked at him with the express statement – _back off._ She didn't know who this guy was. But strangers needed to stop pressing their condolences onto the Latimers.

"You'll get through it."

"And you know, do you?" Beth asked harshly.

He was quiet for almost a moment before he said something that made Bonnie see red, "Look, erm... don't take this the wrong way. I have a message for you. It's from Danny."

Beth looked at him with all the disgust in the world, "No, no, no, no, don't you dare."

He looked beseeching, "I promise you, he just-"

Beth stood up and yelled, "Stop speaking to me! Get away from me!"

Bonnie had stood quickly too to shield Beth from him. He must have been the phone engineer Alec told her about. She helped Beth get her purse on as the man was pleading with them, "I'm not trying to upset you, I have to tell you-"

"Shut up!" Bonnie shouted at him before turning back to Beth. "Head on out, sweetie. I'll deal with this prick and stop by later."

Beth looked grateful but close to tears and sprinted away once her purse was on her shoulder. Bonnie turned to the man with all the hatred concentrated in her eyes. He plead again, "Please!" And she'd lost her temper, reared her hand back, and backhanded him as hard as she could in the face. He held his cheek and looked at her, utterly shocked, either at her action or at the strength behind it.

"How dare you!?" she screamed. "She has been through enough! They _all_ have been through enough! And you walk over talking about messages from Danny as if you have any right."

"Look, I don't want this-" he started to justify.

"Don't you dare!" she pointed her finger at him like a scolding mother. "Don't give me the reluctant clairvoyant routine. I don't care what made up message you have to stamp your name on. You will leave them all alone. I will be phoning the police about this altercation and if I ever see or hear that you've been around them again, I will have you arrested for harassment. I don't care who you are or what you have to say about it. Are we clear?"

She didn't wait to hear his answers before she marched away. She pulled out her phone and dialed Ellie.

"Hello Bon, fancy hearing from you," Ellie's perky voice answered.

"Look, El, I just wanted to let you know that a man's approached Beth," she quickly relayed to the officer-friend. "Claiming to have a message from Danny. I had Beth run off and I shouted him about a bit. But I thought you'd ought to know what's happening."

She heard Ellie curse and say, "All right, thanks for letting me know. Let me know if he does again, we'll charge him for harassment."

"That's what I threatened him with as well," Bonnie said. "People like him churn my stomach."

"Right, me too," she agreed. "Listen, I have to shove off. Hardy's interviewing Tom with Joe and I want to be there when they get out."

"All right, good luck," Bonnie said before hanging up and continuing on her way to the Latimer house. When she got there, the backdoor was open, so she walked into the kitchen to see Beth and Chloe with Pete. She went to Beth's side and put her arm around the woman, "What's wrong then?"

"Waiting to hear about dad," Chloe answered.

Pete was on the phone, "Okay. All right, thanks." He hung up and looked at the women. "They want me to tell you... Mark's been arrested. And he's refused a solicitor."

"What for?" Beth gasped.

"He won't account for his movements the night before Danny was found," Pete told them.

Bonnie had feared this was where things were headed when Danny visited her earlier.

Chloe gaped, "So he's a suspect?"

Pete seemed reluctant to confirm anything, "Let's see where we are once they finish talking."

Chloe glared at him, "You can't just do that – tell us he's under arrest then nothing else."

"I'm sure it'll get sorted. Arrested isn't charged," Pete tried to assure them.

"Sorted?" Chloe scoffed. "My brother's dead-"

"Chloe, come with me," Beth demanded, grabbing Chloe and carting her off up the stairs.

But Chloe fought her, "Get off me! It's him you should be having a go at. What are you doing?"

"Get in the bathroom," Beth pushed her in and locked the door with just the two of them, diving into scolding her daughter. "When I say, 'Enough', I mean it. From now on, you say nothing in front of Pete. He is looking at us all the time. He is not our friend, he is their spy. God knows what they're thinking, but I am not having them going through our stuff, thinking the worst. We have to stay tight, even just you and me if necessary."

"And Dad," Chloe added, somber. When her mother didn't immediately agree, she insisted, "It's not him, you don't think it's him."

"You never really know anyone," Beth told her, "and we have to be so strong now. And you have to be older than you are because I don't know where this ends. Okay?"

Quietly, Chloe nodded, "Okay," as her mother clutched to her.

* * *

When Beth wandered back downstairs, Bonnie was waiting on the couch. "Hey, everything okay?"

"Okay is a pretty elusive thing right now," Beth scoffed, sinking down on the couch.

Bonnie eyed Pete munching on crisps in the kitchen and then grabbed Beth's hand. "Could we speak outside for a moment?"

Beth nodded, looking a bit confused, "Yeah."

The women wandered to the Latimers backyard and took seats on the picnic furniture. Bonnie didn't know where to start. "About the man from before... I gave him a big 'ol slap for you. I also told him we'd phone the police on him if he harassed you again."

Beth nodded numbly, "Thanks for that. You're really looking out for us."

"I'm trying to," Bonnie sighed. "I'm not sure it's going to be enough to put him off. People like that – they're tenacious. They'll do anything to make you believe them. They have a whole bag of tricks to pull out to try and make a name for themselves with something this big."

Beth looked at her, "You sound like you know personally."

Bonnie sighed. "Almost everyone who moves into this town later in life is trying to get away from something. Me – I'm trying to get away from my mother."

Beth's breathing stuttered a bit, "You left her behind in America, I'm guessing."

Bonnie nodded. And then she began to tell Beth her story. A story she'd only ever told one person – her Uncle. She was ashamed. Of her mother. Of herself. Of her gift. Of course, she'd left the reality of her abilities out of it. But by the time she was nearing the end, she had started to cry. She wiped at her eyes to try and stop them. "This is silly. I shouldn't be crying to you of all people right now."

"No, don't apologize," Beth reached for her hands and held them tight. "I'm glad you told me." Her eyes were welling with tears as well, but finally they were tears for someone else. "You're such a strong person for stepping away from that environment. It was bad for you."

"Now I have to plead with you not to listen to that man," Bonnie whispered as her tears finally slowed. "Because everything he pulls out and throws at you is just an educated lie. Guesses. And I won't have him messing you about now – or ever."

"I promise," Beth nodded, happy to have Bonnie for a friend. Especially now that she was forced to doubt her husband with her son dead. No part of her doubted Bonnie for a second. No matter what, she knew she could trust her.

* * *

 **Another chapter down... Mark's in hot water and Bonnie is reliving her past. Next up... nightmares, romance, and tension.**

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	4. Chapter 4: Panic Attack

**This is a short chapter so I'll be uploading chapter five later today... Enjoy some Hardy goodness...**

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

PANIC ATTACK

* * *

"You're the last person I expected a phone call from."

"You're the first friendly face I've seen in months," Hardy told the older man sitting next to him in a covered bench by the beach. He'd been pushing off this meeting for a while, but he knew he needed to go ahead and get it over with.

The man laughed, "If I'm the friendly face, God knows what the rest of them are like."

Hardy groaned humorously. Or at least it was humorous to the other man. "Oh, you have no idea. It is another world."

The man looked around the unpopulated walk of beach, "It's a bit cloak and dagger, Alec, meeting out here. What's wrong with the office?"

Hardy looked around with distaste, "Small town, everyone's eyes on you. Don't like it."

The other nodded and coughed awkwardly, "I uh... went through all the results you sent me."

"So?"

"It's not good, Alec," he said. "No. You've got to change all of this. No stress, no pressure, nothing that'll cause unnecessary exertion."

"I can't," Hardy insisted.

"You have to," the other man pushed. "If you don't... you'll end up dead."

Hardy scoffed, "Ah, you bloody doctors! Always, 'Do as I say, or you'll end up dead.'"

"I'm serious!" his doctor said. "Look, I'll make sure all the paperwork gets filled in. You can be invalided out."

But Hardy shook his head. That was the last thing he wanted. "Not till I'm done here."

The man looked at him with amused disbelief, "You like it that much?"

Hardy spewed, "No, I hate it. I hate the air, I hate the sand. I hate the stupid people, I hate the way they work. I hate their bloody smiley bloody faces. I hate the never-ending sky."

"Well, why be here at all?"

It was silent between them for a moment. "...It's penance."

"What?" the doctor questioned, not expecting that. "No... really?"

"Really."

* * *

Becca had been waiting for near fifteen minutes in the station's lobby until Ellie walked out to meet her. She stood up awkwardly to addressed her, clutching her purse like a raft, "I'm under instructions to come in. Chloe Latimer texted me."

"Okay," was all Ellie said before guiding her into an empty interview room to meet with Hardy.

Becca sighed, "Thursday night, Mark Latimer was with me. We met in the car park and drove off. We were together till about one. Then I dropped him back at the car park."

"What were you doing?" Ellie asked.

"Really?" Becca gave them a look, it was obvious. But they didn't drop their expectant expressions. So, she deadpanned, "Having sex." She saw the judgment on their faced, "I know. Worst decision of my life."

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us you were with Becca Fisher on Thursday night?"

"Why do you think, El?" Mark asked his family friend. "You know this town. If that got out..."

Hardy stared hard at the man, "You let us pursue this because you were worried about gossip?"

Mark glared at him, "No, not gossip. Lives, mate. My family, her business. You don't understand, you haven't lived here. You don't know how these things stick." He looked desperate and ashamed, "Don't tell Beth. I haven't done anything like this before, I swear."

"With her?" Ellie questioned.

Mark shook his head, "Not with anyone. I mean, I've had chances, but I've never done anything before this. We're tired, though. You know... I saw a chance of something else and I took it."

Ellie was close to losing her patience, beseeching with him, "This has only been about Danny's killer. Why wouldn't you tell us?"

Mark had lost control of his emotions, crying, "Because I'm ashamed, innit? The one time that I took him for granted and that's when I lost him and it..." he almost couldn't hold in his sobs. "Please don't tell Beth. Please."

* * *

Ellie had been at her desk watching Tom's interview tape, having to pause it periodically to make it through.

Hardy ambled over to her desk, dropping down a file, "Reconstruction, Thursday night, one week on. Your boy Tom, he should do it."

"What?" Ellie looked blearily up at him. "No, I don't want him to."

"He's the best choice," he pointed out.

But Ellie wasn't having it, "Did you not hear me? He's lost his best friend, that could traumatize him."

"Maybe he should be allowed to decide."

"I'm his mum, I decide," Ellie insisted.

Hardy gave her a look, "So, your commitment to this investigation stops outside these doors?"

Ellie glared at him, "Sir, move away from me now or I will piss in a cup and throw it at you."

"Talk to..." he trailed off with a bad smell face once her threat had sunken in. "What's your husband's name – Joe? Talk to him about it. And Tom."

Ellie looked at her desk and counted to ten in her head. "You're invited for dinner."

Hardy was taken aback, "What?"

"Pick a night," she had to force the words out.

"At your house? Why?" he furrowed his brow at her.

She gave him a look, "Do you know many people here?"

"No."

"Are you living off hotel food?"

He paused, trying to think of an excuse to get out of it, "It's not a good idea."

"Don't be an asshole about it, I don't want to do it either, but it's what people do," Ellie ranted.

"Is it?"

She nodded, "They have the boss round and don't talk about work."

"What will we talk about?" he asked.

She huffed, "I don't know! Just say yes."

He searched for an excuse again but couldn't think of one. So, he mumbled, "Yeah."

"Thank you. Bloody hell!" she said as he walked away. Then she said, "Knob," to herself.

* * *

Mark and Beth had been not sleeping next to each other in their bed, not facing each other either, for close to the early morning hours.

"Did you tell them where you were?"

"Yeah," Mark mumbled into his pillow at her question.

"Are you gonna tell me?"

"Not now." He didn't know what to tell her.

She shifted to look at the back of his head, "Look at me." She waited until he slowly shifted in the bed to look at her. After a pregnant pause, she finally asked, "Did you kill him?"

He was flabbergasted, "What?"

"Did you kill Danny?"

He gasped, "How could you even say that, Beth? Is that what you think? Is that what you see when you look at me?"

"All you have to say is no."

"How can you even say it? You think I could kill my own son, do you?" he ranted. "Do you? You think I could strangle him, do you?" He got out of the bed and headed for the bedroom door. He'd sleep on the couch tonight. "For God's sake, Beth. What in God's name is happening to us, eh?"

* * *

Bonnie had only been in a deep sleep in her bed for half an hour when it hit her. The anxiety, the pressure, and then the feeling of hands on her neck. She instantly woke up in her bed but was still being held down by an unseen force on her neck and collar bone. The invisible hands were large and strong, and she fought and kicked and strove for breath, but nothing worked. She thrashed in her bed, kicking her feet and reaching her hands out. With a big swing, she'd managed to knock over her glass lamp on her nightstand and it shattered loudly.

* * *

Hardy was tired deep into his bones when he wandered into the Trader's. As he made for the stairs, however, it became apparent that Karen had been waiting in the front room for him.

"What time do you call this?" she posed for him, getting up quickly and approaching him.

He spared her no pleasantries, "No."

"Come on, five minutes," she goaded him. "Couple of quotes, tell me where you've been, what you've been up to."

He glared at her, "After what you did to me last time?"

"Legitimate investigation," she defended.

"You turned me over," he spat. "You will never have anything out of me as long as I am breathing."

She now glared at him, "You let that family down. I sat with them after the trial. They still don't have closure because of you and I won't let you do that to another family."

He would have continued arguing with her, but they were cut off by the sound of glass breaking. It was a distant sound, so he knew it wasn't from within the hotel. He raced outside, Karen on his heels. He almost didn't hear anything for a moment, trying to decide where it had come from. No one's windows seemed to be broken. But then they heard sharp gasping from the cracked window of Bonnie's apartment.

Not thinking anymore, Hardy harshly told Karen to, "Stay here!" and raced across the street to the bookstore. "Bonnie, can you hear me!?" When he heard nothing but her loud gasping and chocking, he readied himself and slammed into the shop door, almost cracking the half window of it when the old lock gave in and he ran inside. He raced up the stairs to her apartment door. This time, he needed to strike at the door three times before it gave.

"Bonnie!" he shouted and couldn't see her. But he followed the noises until he found her bedroom. He almost lost air in his lungs. She was thrashing and gasping desperately for air, tossed out of her bed, clutching her neck, laying in shards of what used to be a lamp, and half tangled in her green bed sheets.

He ran to her side and hastily picked her off the glass and put her into the bed, "Bonnie!? What's happening? Can you breathe?"

He was pulling out his phone to call for an ambulance when he noticed that she was reaching for the top drawer in her nightstand. He quickly opened it and saw an inhaler on top of a journal and some pens. He picked out the inhaler, but saw she was in no fit state to use it herself. So, he uncapped it and pressed it to her open lips, "Come on, sweetheart, breathe." As soon as her lips closed around it enough, he pressed on the top twice, knowing she'd need more medicine than one puff would give her.

Hardy couldn't see or hear him, but a tearful and scared Danny was there, speaking rapidly to Bonnie. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I only touched your hand. I don't know what happened."

Like a switch flipped, she was finally breathing right, though breathing heavily, and calming down. But all the energy had been zapped out of her, other than her crying, as she fell to the bed. "I'm okay. It's okay."

Hardy saw she was getting better and decided against calling for the ambulance. "How long have you had asthma? How bad is it?"

Through her tears, she shook her head, "Since I was a kid. But this—this was a panic attack. A nightmare."

"Nightmare?" he questioned. But for once, asking her a question didn't feel like a job. He was concerned for her.

She started crying more, her voice getting higher as the emotion threatened to overwhelm her again, "I was being strangled. And I couldn't get away, I couldn't get them off me. I couldn't see who it was, it was just darkness and the feeling of their hands on my throat. And I keep thinking that's what Danny felt."

Feeling outside of himself, Alec reached over and stroked her hair out of her face and spoke soothingly, "Don't think about any of that. It won't help you."

After her tears slowed, she managed to smile at him. She caught his hand and held it to her face. "You go around, and people think your walls are steel and you don't care about anything but the job. But that's not the way it is. You care so much."

"How do you know that?" he asked, skeptical.

She squeezed his hand, "I can see it in your eyes. You try apathy in your face, but your eyes give you away."

After a moment of staring at her and letting her words sink in, he suddenly felt uncomfortable with how close they were getting and made his excuses that it was late, and he should go. She walked him to her door, and noticed the lock and jam was busted.

He coughed, embarrassed, "Right. I'll pay to fix it. And the shop door as well."

"Don't worry about. It's not like anything ever hap..." she trailed off. "I guess stuff does happen here now. But I'm friends with the handy man, I'm sure he'll give me a good rate when I tell him the great new DI busted down two doors to save me."

Just then, Alec noticed the blood seeping through her cotton pajamas pants from a few of the cuts she must have gotten from falling into the glass. "You're hurt."

She looked down as if just realizing that for herself, pulling up the pants to see some superficial cuts in the skin. "I'll be fine. I've got a good first-aid kit-"

"Where is it?" he asked, cutting her off.

"Um, cabinet to the right of the fridge," she answered dubiously.

And he was already heading into her kitchen and grabbing it. He impatiently gestured for her to sit on the couch and once she obeyed, he pulled up the leg of her pants to clean out the cuts.

"Now I wish I shaved," she joked, and was sort of shocked when he genuinely laughed.

He worked quickly and taped gauze to some of the deeper ones. But he blushed when he noticed a spot of blood seeping through her clothes at her hip. He gestured to it, "Does that one hurt?"

Unaware – or ignoring – his discomfort, she pulled down the hem of her pants enough to get a look at the somewhat deep cut below her hip on the side. "Stings a bit."

He coughed, averting his eyes from meeting hers, "Let me... see..."

She tilted her hip towards him and hissed when he started cleaning it. "Damn. I need to invest in a plastic lamp."

"Or overhead lighting," he joked, pressing a pad of gauze to her wound and taping it down. "Nothing on your arms or... anywhere else?"

She shook her head, "Not that I feel."

It was then that they realized how close their faces were. They froze. Eyes averted to the lower half of each other's faces, if to avoid eye contact and look at what they really wanted to look at. And suddenly, his lips were on hers. Neither cared who had leaned in first, but he had been the one to make contact. Breathing through their noses for air, the kiss wasn't frenzied or overtly gratuitous. It was languid and had a slow burning passion in it.

He was the one to pull away. "I shouldn't..."

"Shut it off, detective," she teased, cupping his face. "Remember that your eyes give you away." Slowly, she leaned in to kiss him again. And felt butterflies when he kissed back. And this time, she pulled away, "Let's go slow. I have some war wounds that need to heal. And you need to sleep. Lord knows you're not getting enough sleep given all that's going on."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Too right."

"And tomorrow, don't forget to come for your tea," she reminded him. Then she paused and thought better of it, "Actually, I'll run it to the station. I'll need to stop by the handy man's anyway."

"That's not nec—" he started to refute.

But she cut him off, "Necessary I know. Just let someone do something for you, Alec."

"All right," he relented. He made sure he hadn't cracked her shop window when he'd broken in and gave her his card with his cell written on it 'in case she needed police assistance.'

She laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Goodnight, Alec."

He nodded, "Night," and finally retired to his hotel room.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5: Bonnie's Secrets

**It's later today, and things are getting aired out finally...**

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE

BONNIE'S SECRETS

* * *

A boat had been reported to be drifting out at sea and on fire. All the forces had been called in to retrieve it and get what they could in the way of evidence.

"It can't be Mark Latimer's boat. That's still with our forensics," Ellie told Hardy as they strode through the dock to the SOCO truck.

"Is this it?" Hardy asked Brian.

Brian grinned at him, "On earth we say, 'Good morning, how you doing?'"

"I've told him. Makes no difference," Ellie said. "Connected to the Latimer death?"

Brian started explaining what they'd found, pointing out the evidence as he described it, "Traces of accelerant suggest the boat was doused in petrol. I'm finding flecks of glass and fibers of cloth within the wood. If I had to guess I'd say a lit rag inside a bottle was used to ignite it."

"If someone took the boat out that far at, what, 4am, to burn it, how did they get back?" Alec asked.

"The rear section had marks where an outboard motor might have gone. They used that to get back on another boat," Brian theorized.

"Or there was more than one of them," Hardy was thinking out loud, looking out at the water. "Why burn this boat?"

"This piece might hold the key," Brian pointed to a certain groove. "We sent a sample back for match and analysis. Look in the grain. Strands of hair."

Hardy strung on his glasses and peered at the area, excitement coursing through him as he chanted, "Outstanding. Out-bloody-standing!" He stood, slapping a hand on Ellie's shoulder, "Oh, Miller, we've got them." To Brian he said, "Keep going. I want to know as soon as you have confirmation." Meanwhile, he was starting to drag Miller off the pier, "Come on, Miller, no hanging around."

"That's cheered you up," Ellie commented as they started walking out.

"100 quid says that's the boat they used, and those hairs belonged to Danny," he answered her. "They're panicking, Miller. Fantastic. That is exactly what we want. Starting to show themselves. And they're an amateur. Haven't done this before. That's clumsy – burning the boat like that and so soon. That's a big mistake they've made. That's like oxygen to us. Breathe it in, Miller, we're getting somewhere."

* * *

Bonnie hadn't been expecting a call from her Uncle. He never really fancied phone conversations. Skype or texting.

So, she answered the phone like this, "Uncle Jay, is something wrong?"

He chuckled, "No one's injured. But I got another message on that Facebook profile Mary made up for me. From Marge."

At the sound of that name, all color and humor and life drained from Bonnie's face. "Really?"

"Don't worry I've already deleted it and not replied," he assured her. "But I thought you should know that she's asking around about you again. Also went on a bit about her new book she's working on."

"What new book?" she asked as she shelved books back in their rightful place towards the back of the shop. "Did she manage to worm her way into another investigation?"

"No, it sounds like more of a 'Where are they now?' from the first, since it's been over fifteen years now," he described. "She wants to be able to include you. Says the main selling point is the mother daughter parallel between you and Lila and her mum. Since the ages were right. To be honest, I mostly skimmed it."

"Might as well have deleted it without reading it at all," Bonnie responded. "I have no interest in that shit show."

"It's all you," he cheered. "Just thought you ought to know that she's sniffing around. Can't imagine she'd figure out where you are. Nothing to worry about."

"Right," she sighed. "No chance. I'm not even on social media. But thanks for letting me know."

"Of course, love," he said. "I've got to get back to it then. Love you, Bon."

"Love you, Jay," she said before hanging up. She couldn't believe her mother was trying to drag her back into it all again. She left everything about her old life behind, including her mother. And she wasn't about to get sucked in again.

* * *

There was a tense silence in the Latimer household. Liz, Chloe, and Mark sat on the couch. Ellie and Hardy were across from them. Waiting for Beth to come home.

"Where the hell have you been?" Mark asked when she walked through the door in her running clothes.

"Running," she panted. "Am I not allowed to run?" She looked to the detectives sheepishly, "I didn't know you were coming."

"Just bringing you up to date," Ellie told her.

Hardy got out of the way, so she could have a seat, and stood between her and Ellie, "I was just saying we've asked forensics to examine Danny's clothing in greater detail. We're following up on leads from the house-to-house."

"Yeah, now you've stopped messing around with me," Mark muttered.

Beth glared at her husband, "Don't be a wanker, Mark."

Most of the people in the room looked at her shocked, except for Ellie. The woman had pulled her out of the house early in the morning, before the sun came up, and revealed that she'd seen Mark with Becca Fisher. She knew that that must have been what Mark was hiding when he refused to account for his movements while Danny was killed. Right now, there was an ocean between them.

To move on from the uncomfortable silence, Ellie said, "We're holding a public meeting at the school later today. Just to keep the town up to date, answer questions. You don't have to be there."

"I'm gonna go. On behalf of all of us," Liz said.

"You don't have to, Mum," Beth told her.

"I want to," she insisted. "Keep busy."

"Why is there nothing more in the paper about Danny?" Mark asked Ellie. "It's like page 12, couple of paragraphs."

"Don't judge this investigation by what's in the press," Hardy warned him.

Mark shook his head, "No, we were saying if there's more in the papers it might jog people's memories. What if there's somebody out there? They might have seen something. If we had more in the papers..."

"Please, let us handle the media," Alec said. "We have the experience in this."

* * *

As Ellie had been on her way to the town meeting with Joe and baby Fred, her phone rang, "Miller."

"It's Daniels, that background check came through about ten minutes ago," the PC's voice came through. "Everything checks out for the most part. But I still think there's something you ought to know."

* * *

"We're all asking, no offense, but why's it taking so long?"

After restocking, Bonnie had seen fit to leave the shop for the town meeting about Danny, if only to support Hardy in front of the mob. And since he hadn't been into the station, she brought a fresh brew of white tea with her.

But Alec was handling everything professionally, "Multiple complex crime scenes, particularly at the beach. Lack of CCTV in key areas. Err... absence of witnesses seeing Danny on the night he sneaked out. We've a lot of information still to process. We'll get there."

A blonde woman Bonnie didn't recognize raised her hand to ask a question, "Susan Wright. How many people do you even have working on it? I heard you were short staffed."

"We have the right resources for an investigation of this size," Alec assured her. "Next question."

Bonnie didn't understand how people could make such vast jabs at those trying to find Danny's killer. It seemed to be a trend to try and find fault with the investigation. She jolted out of her thoughts when she noticed that Laurie, a local shop owner, had been asking a question. By the look of him, and knowing the type of bloke he was, she could guess that it had to do with tourism and the beach being closed off.

"New information came to light overnight. And we have to examine it without contamination," Alec explained to him.

"Is that the boat that was on fire?" Nicky Smith asked from the right. Bonnie was standing in the back, down from Ellie and her family. "My brother saw it when he was out with his pots."

Everyone went tense and murmured among themselves at the news. And Alec looked uncomfortable.

"Erm... It's too early to talk about specific types of evidence."

Laurie started in on him again, "You said the tents on the beach would come down at any moment and they're still there, and now you're adding bloody great vans."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and finally spoke up, "Would you shut up, Laurie? We all know you care nothing about the investigation or Danny. All you care about is tourism and lining your pockets. The rest of us, hopefully, care about finding a child murderer. So, do the world a favor and keep your bloody mouth shut."

There was some amusement and murmur of agreement. Some of the townsfolk even clapped for her quietly. Alec looked about as grateful as he could in front of everyone else. "You have to understand the work going on there. Every grain of sand has to be gone through. Every cigarette butt or stray hair, shard of plastic, fingernail, toenail, piece of skin has to be tested. We will do everything we can to limit the effect on your livelihoods, but my priority is to a thorough and efficient investigation."

Apparently, Laurie hadn't heeded anything Bonnie said. "But low-key. We don't want the name Broadchurch to be a byword for murder like Sandbrook."

Bonnie became concerned when she noticed the way Alec's face had gone dark when he heard the word Sandbrook. It affected him more than she'd seen before. Almost more than he'd been affected when he thought she was being murdered last night. As soon as the meeting broke up, she tried to catch up with him to give him his tea and ask him about it. But she'd been beaten to him by the dratted Connelly running after him. She caught him saying, "I told you there was a boat."

She skipped up to them, shouting, "Hey!" to get their attention. But her eyes were on the phone engineer, "What the hell did I tell you? I want you to disappear, and I told you to leave Beth alone." She turned to Alec, "DI Hardy, I think you'd like to know that he'd slipped a note under Beth's door late last night. After accosting her at the beach earlier. I told Ellie about that."

Alec immediately glared at the man and pointed at him, "How about you heed my very strong advice? Stay away from her. Do not get involved."

She and Alec continued walking towards his car while Connelly slinked away. She caught his elbow and handed over the tea, which he immediately started drinking from. "Hey, you all right? What is so important about Sandbrook?"

He looked shocked at her. Both at her bringing it up. And that she didn't already know. But she looked genuinely concerned and confused. "It's nothing."

She knew the truth. She could see it in his eyes. "It's not nothing."

"It's nothing I want to discuss," he insisted. "I have to go now."

"Fine," Bonnie sighed. "It's none of my business. Drink your tea." With that said, she walked away.

Alec let out a harsh sigh and leaned on the car, ranting as Ellie approached, "The longer this goes on the more everyone wants to get involved, stick their oar in. Develop their pet theory. People getting restless, too many opinions. I don't like it." His scowl deepened when he noticed Maggie and her young employee, Oliver approaching. "Here we go again."

Maggie regarded Ellie directly, speaking kindly, "Will you pass on to Beth and Mark, whenever they feel able to talk, come to us, to me? They know we do things properly."

Ellie nodded, "I'll make sure they know."

Maggie then gestured to Olly, "And Oliver has got something else to tell you."

Alec spoke sarcastically, "Well, we always love hearing from Oliver."

Oliver handed a piece of paper to Hardy, "I found this on Jack Marshall, who runs the newsagent's here. He was in prison before he came here. He's got a previous conviction for underage sex."

As the newsies left and the officers got into the car to question Jack, Ellie reluctantly told her boss, "Sir, about Bonnie's background check."

"What about it?" he asked, frustrated with how he'd just brushed off the woman he'd enjoyed kissing the night before.

"Nearly everything about her checks out, and she's every bit the sweet woman she seems," Ellie replied reluctantly.

He looked at her when he caught onto her wording, "Nearly?"

Ellie sighed, disheartened, "Sir, there's no record of a Bonnie Irving matching her description previous to 1999."

* * *

"Is this about the postman?" Jack asked when Ellie and Hardy pulled him into an interview room. "The one who was arguing with Danny?"

Ellie shook her head, "No, though we did talk to him. He said he never had an argument with Danny that day."

Jack snorted, "Load of rubbish. I know what I saw."

"Tell us about your conviction for sex with a minor, Jack," Hardy spoke.

Jack spoke with slow tones, as if his energy was zapped out of him, "So... we're into the muck-raking, are we?"

Hardy shook his head, "Just wanna establish the facts. You didn't mention it when we spoke."

"It's nothing to do with anyone," Jack insisted. "Nothing to do with Danny."

"You help with the Sea Brigade. That requires CRB checks cross-referenced with the sex Offenders' Register," Alec told him, not understanding how something like this was missed and caught by bloody Oliver.

Jack scowled, "I am not a sex offender. That conviction was a farce. I'm not on any register."

"Only because it happened before the Register came into being. Why didn't you tell us about it?" he asked.

Jack jerked his head to the table, "You've got the file, haven't you? I've served my time."

"You should have declared it," Hardy scolded him.

Jack got smart, "Put up a little sign, should I? 'Ex-convict here'. I came here to get away from that. I am not what you're insinuating."

"When did you last see Danny Latimer?" Hardy moved along.

"I told you, the day before he was found. He came in, did his paper round."

"What about the night of Danny's death? Where were you then?"

"In, on my own, reading a book," Jack stated.

"Anyone vouch for that?" Hardy asked.

"Only the book."

Hardy didn't like his tone, "Which book?"

Jack looked at him, "Jude The Obscure. You might not like it. Not many pictures."

Hardy leaned forward onto his elbows, "We've been told you're a keen amateur photographer, Jack. Took a lot of pictures of the boys in Sea Brigade."

Jack sighed through his nose, "I really do pity you. Seeing depravity in perfectly normal behavior. I'd hate to be in your mind. Now, if you've an accusation or evidence to put to me, let's hear it. Otherwise, let me go back to work."

As Jack left, Hardy was back into his usual frustrated mood. "Why are we relying on journalists to do our work for us?"

"He wasn't a suspect," Ellie pointed out. "We haven't prioritized him."

"Well, make him a priority now," Hardy ordered. "And while we're at it, let's go and rule out Irving once and for all."

* * *

Bonnie had returned to work peeved and melancholy at the same time. She'd stopped by the handy man and gotten a quote on the repairs she'd need. And since she'd helped his daughter so much with her schooling, he gave her a friends and family discount. That did little to help her mood though. And it had only gotten worse when Denise approached her and said Ellie and Hardy were there to speak with her.

Ellie looked guilty, and Alec seemed suspicious when she walked towards the front of the shop. "Anything I could help you with?"

Ellie shuffled her feet, "We'd like to speak to you privately if we could."

Bonnie felt a ball of ice forming in her gut but forced a smile and gestured for them to follow her upstairs into her apartment. Ellie gaped when she saw the busted lock, "What happened here?"

Bonnie waved off her concern, "Don't worry about that. I already showed Phil and he'll fix it for a steal. Tea?"

"Tea would be lovely," Ellie tried to smile.

Bonnie quickly put the kettle on and gestured for them to sit on the couch. She had a cushioned chair to sit herself in. "You have questions or something?"

Alec had been going over and over the possible explanations she could have for the lack of paper trail to her name before 1999. And he didn't want to hedge around it anymore. "Bonnie Irving isn't your real name."

Bonnie was startled to say the least. She actually laughed. "Yes, it is."

Ellie and Alec shared a look. And Ellie sighed when she looked at her friend. "Sorry, Bon, but we ran a background check on you for elimination. There's no record of you before your schooling in Whales. Before the year 1999."

Bonnie still chuckled at the absurdity of this whole situation. "Well, he didn't check deeply enough into the name change paperwork in America. Legally, I am Bonnie Irving. But I wasn't born that. I hated my name, it was my mother's name, so I changed it when I turned eighteen. Before I moved out here. I took my father's last name, because she'd deprived him of that, and then his favorite first name. It was my way of picking him over her and honoring his memory."

Ellie seemed perfectly satisfied with that explanation. It made sense. And would be easy to check. She'd never thought Bonnie was a suspect anyway.

For the most part, Alec was satisfied with that part of the mystery that was Bonnie Irving. But not all of it. "Does the name Lila Davidson mean anything to you?"

Now, Bonnie was completely taken aback. She had no idea where he'd heard that name. A name that had been the bane of her existence for years. She narrowed her eyes at him, seeing for the first time the grouchy relentless man everyone else was frustrated with. "You didn't get that name from any background check. I'd wager you have no idea what my birth name was. So, how did you get that name?"

Alec wanted to avert his eyes from her. It was the first time he felt an ounce of guilt for questioning someone. "Please answer the question."

Bonnie glared at him, "Answer mine." He hadn't answered, and pieces of their interactions started to come together in her mind. She looked at him with such shock and betrayal, that he felt chastised before she spoke. "God, you went through my trash? I invited you in for tea and you went through my trash? For what?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Ellie looked at her boss.

He avoided both of their gazes. "The clipping was out on the floor. I was putting it back. I saw the crystal ball, the tarot cards, and the name. It's just how I am."

Ellie now looked at Bonnie with confusion. She just wanted to understand. "What is all of that for?"

Bonnie looked at her. "It's rubbish, which was why I was throwing it away. They were old ridiculous keepsakes that I held on way too long."

"Why?" Ellie asked with nothing but curiosity.

"Because they were the only thing my mum had ever given me," she shrugged. "We'd never gotten on, and it had just gotten worse when my dad died. Then we had a big falling out when I was seventeen. I ran away from her over ten years ago and I haven't seen or spoken to her since."

Alec scratched at his chin, "I don't understand why. I don't understand what you're hiding."

Bonnie glared at him. And he almost flinched when he saw the unshed tears in her eyes. "Fine, Alec, you win. You get to deflect all you want about you and your past, and then drag mine out of me." She stood when the kettle started whistling, but instead of making tea, she just shut off the stove.

When she returned, she kept her arms crossed and stayed on her feet. "My birth name was Marjorie MacQueen, same as my mom but she went by Marge." She looked at Alec then, expectantly. "Remember my telling you about the neighborhood clairvoyant I didn't like? That was my mum. That was what she did for a living, and she managed to make a name for herself on Lila's case. She was kidnapped and held in a pervert's basement for two months and my mom took credit for finding her. I was fifteen, same age as her. I could never understand why she did what she did, taking advantage of people's grief to line her own pockets. From the moment I could talk she tried to teach me all the tricks, make it a family business. I never wanted any part of it."

Ellie almost accepted it when a detail jumped out at her. "You said you fell out when you were seventeen."

The tears welling in Bonnie's eyes started spilling over, "When I was seventeen, a volleyball team bus went over a bridge coming home from an away game. It was a big deal in town. And by then my mom was a bit famous so a few of the parents came to her to try and communicate with their daughters. She'd used up all the cold reading tricks. Even dragged gossip about the girls from me to make it authentic. She told them that their daughters were happy and at peace, and that heaven was a beautiful place. She told them that their daughters were going to be waiting for them on the other side. This one couple, the Cadshaws, left with such a sense of peace – it was the first time I'd ever thought my mom did something good."

She trailed off a little at the end there. Staring down at the couch. Wiping away some of the tears on her cheeks, she continued, "But then, the next morning, they were discovered hanging from their chandelier. All that was released about their dual suicide note was that they didn't want to keep their daughter waiting. When I told my mom, she was distraught, but refused to take any responsibility for her part in it. She insisted that people make their own choices, and whatever she said had nothing to do with their decision. I couldn't even look at her anymore. There was nothing for me in Virginia. My dad had already been dead for years and from that moment onward, my mom was dead to me. So, as soon as I turned eighteen, I used money I'd saved and inherited to move out to Whales and live with my dad's brother. The rest as they say is history."

Alec looked positively gutted for the first time. "Bonnie-"

She cut him off harshly, "I hope you're satisfied."

Ellie stood and walked over to the girl, wrapping her up in a hug, "I'm sorry."

Bonnie accepted the comfort but hissed when Ellie's arm hit a soft bruise on her collar bone. Ellie pulled back and the other girl's sweater caught on her earring. She de-tangled it, but it was too late, and she had noticed the ugly dark purple bruising on her neck, "What is this? What happened, Bon?"

Alec came over and went white when he saw the distinct finger shaped bruising around her neck. "Who did this to you? When did this happen?"

Bonnie had only noticed the bruising herself until this morning while getting ready. She'd heard that reliving memories from people no longer living could psychically affect the host. But she'd never experienced it before. She tried to wave them off, "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Nothing!?" Ellie gasped. "Your lock's broken in and you have strangled marks on your neck."

"Hardy broke the lock," Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"What?" Ellie looked at her boss.

"I heard her lamp break, thought she was being attacked," he quickly explained. "She was having a panic attack."

"It looks like she had a physical attack," Ellie glared between them.

"No one else was here when I came in," Alec said.

"Guys, this is nothing," Bonnie tried to dissuade them. "You were just giving me the Spanish Inquisition and now you're worried for me?" She snapped away from them and pulled her sweater back up, shutting her eyes against the onslaught of their stares and her incoming migraine.

Just then Danny appeared at her side, "Did I hurt you?"

And without thinking, she answered him, "No, of course not. It wasn't your fault." When she opened her eyes, she realized her mistake with a burning face.

The detectives were looking at her as if she'd grown another head. Ellie was the one to ask, "Who are you talking to?"

At this point, Bonnie thought it best to stay quiet.

Alec spoke next, "Becca Fisher told me she'd seen you talking to yourself up on the cliffs about a month back."

Bonnie scoffed, "That woman never knows when to keep her nose out of it. I go up there to talk to my father. He doesn't have a headstone for me to visit."

"That right there wasn't talking to your father," Ellie pointed out. "Help me understand what's going wrong with you, Bonnie. We're friends. I hear about broken lamps, panic attacks, talking to yourself. Help me put these pieces together."

But Bonnie didn't want them to put these pieces together. "It's nothing. I'm fine. Or maybe I'm crazy, I don't know. What I do know, is that nothing I could tell you now, could help you catch Danny's killer. So, why don't you leave and do that?"

Ellie looked pleadingly at her friend, "Please Bonnie. For my peace of mind."

She shook her head, "You wouldn't believe me. Trust me."

"Try me," Ellie challenged.

Bonnie thought hard on her options. She hadn't told anyone but her Uncle about her abilities. But it didn't look like they were leaving. She shared a look with Danny, and then suddenly the blonde girl was there too, both looking sad for her. She had to be strong. She straightened up and told Ellie, "Put your hand behind your back and hold out any number of fingers."

Ellie looked confused, and about to refuse.

"Do it."

Ellie silently complied. Danny stepped behind her and said, "Three."

"Three," Bonnie repeated.

Ellie frowned and changed her fingers.

"Five," Danny said.

"Five."

Ellie changed again. Danny smirked, "She's flipping me the bird."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "One – your middle finger. Honestly."

Alec almost felt choked with frustration, "Are you trying to convince us that you're psychic or something?"

Bonnie said nothing as she walked up to him and started pulling off his tie. Ignoring his face, she tied the fabric around her eyes and felt let the blonde girl lead her to the chair to sit. "Ellie, again."

"Four," Danny said.

So, she repeated, "Four."

"Five, two, three, five, four, one, three, two, middle finger, thumb."

As she removed the tie, Ellie was gaping at her, "How are you doing that?"

Bonnie smiled ruefully, "That's the part I don't want to share. You won't believe me. You may even hate me. Call me a liar. A scam artist. All the things I've called my mother and then some."

"Tell me," Ellie demanded.

Bonnie sighed, and gestured to Danny standing behind them still, "Danny told me. He's behind you."

Alec reared up immediately, "You're bloody amazing!" with anger. "You rant about how despicable Connelly is for homing in on Danny's case, and for what? To clear the way for you?"

"No!" she shouted, thankful that the shop downstairs wasn't crowded. "I didn't want to tell you this. I don't want anyone to know. And I swear to God, if either of you tell anyone, let alone the Latimers, I will never speak to either of you ever again. I don't want anyone to know. I will not be my mother."

"So now your mother isn't a fraud?" Alec mocked. "Now she's legit!"

"No, she isn't," Bonnie said. "More often than not the people she claimed to be communicating with were gone and moved on. She picked up all the tricks to claim she could call them back. But you can't. Once they're off, they're off."

Ellie looked frustrated as Hell, "How can we believe this? Do you have any proof? And if you have been communicating with Danny, why haven't you got the name of his killer?"

"Because he doesn't know!" she shouted, louder than she ever had before. "If I had anything helpful to tell you, I would have dropped it to you anonymously. I've done it before."

"What?" Alec scoffed. "What do you mean?"

She gave him a mocking look, "I guess you missed that clipping when you were rifling through my trash." She walked over, thankful that she hadn't thrown out the garbage yet. She picked through the papers until she'd found what she was looking for and handed it over to them.

Alec fished out his glasses to read it, skimming the words, "Romona Wilson..."

"I heard about that case," Ellie chimed in. "The girl was brutally raped and killed by her father. It was tragic."

Bonnie agreed, "Yeah, it was."

Alec continued reading, "A Ziplock bag with her jacket, containing her blood and her father's DNA, including seminal fluid, and coordinates of where Wilson's body was buried was mailed anonymously to the authorities with the father's name attached. He denied having sent it. The police have yet to identify the person or persons responsible." He peered at Bonnie over his glasses, "You're saying this was you."

"Look at the date," she goaded him. "It was about six months before I moved to Broadchurch. Romona and I took the same train to school. She found me after she was killed. She couldn't remember who'd done it. It's commonplace that when someone dies violently, they're too traumatized to remember. And remembering is part of what they need to move on. But with Romona, she'd remembered that her father had been raping her for years. So, she remembered within a month and lead me to her body. I saved what I could, so he couldn't move it later, and sent it to the police. I'm not my mother – I wanted my name nowhere near it."

She sighed and sank further into her chair. "But in the city, it's swarming with them. I couldn't live surrounded by it all anymore, it's painful. I just wanted to get away. I ended up having a nervous breakdown, quit school, used whatever money I had left from my dad's parents to get this place."

She broke down into tears. When she felt a hand take hers, she looked to see the blonde girl silently crying with her. And Danny was next to her, saying, "I'm sorry." In the blink of an eye, they both were gone again.

Ellie sighed and looked to her boss, "I think we ought to move out."

"I'll meet you outside." Alec hadn't taken his eyes off of Bonnie yet.

Ellie didn't really want to leave. But there was an implied order in his words. So, she wordlessly moved over and put her hand on Bonnie's shoulder. She wanted to say something but couldn't think of anything to say. So, she just nodded to her and made her way out.

After she'd left, Bonnie looked at Alec, feeling tired deep into her bones, "What, Alec?"

"I'd like to understand how I'm expected to believe all this," he said.

She scoffed, "I really don't care if you do believe it. I'd rather we never spoke of it again. Short of Danny suddenly remember who killed him – I'm not going to speak up about him. He understands why I can't go round telling his family about seeing him."

She sighed and stood, going to the kitchen, "I need something stronger than tea now."

Alec had sunken into her couch when she walked back in with a glass of red wine in her hand. "Bonnie..."

"You know we met before Danny's death?" she cut him off, snuggling into the chair with her drink. "We bumped into each other on the docks, and I thought you were there with your daughter."

"My daughter's never been in Broadchurch," Alec told her. "She lives with her mum."

Bonnie took a large sip of wine, "I know. But when we met, a blonde girl was following you. One of _them._ They tend to follow people until they figure out how to move on. People they care about for one reason or the other. I've seen her a few times since." She took another sip, tapping her foot on her knee. "She told me about your heart condition. Heart arrhythmia. She was concerned about you. That's why I started brewing you the tea, it's good for circulation."

Alec was stunned. He'd gone to great lengths to hide his disease. His superiors didn't even know. Just his doctor. He was the closest to believing her than he'd ever thought he'd be. "What... what does this girl look like?"

Bonnie sighed. "Young, I'd say early twenties, maybe even still a teenager. Short blonde hair, pale, light eyes. She's always wearing a nightgown, and I haven't figured out anything specific about her. Not even her name. Sadly, she can't talk anymore. So, all our communication has been a morbid game of charades."

"What do you mean she can't talk?" Alec asked, thrown back.

She took another drink and stood, "You'll need a drink too if you want to hear this."

"I'm on duty," he waved her back. "Just tell me."

"Well, the more they hang around, the more they become less like us," she tried to explain. "At first, it's like nothing's happened, except for that no one can hear or see them. After a few months or so, they can no longer speak. After a year or so, they become permeable. They feel solid to me, until then. Then I could pass right through them. And after some years, as time goes by, they slowly fade off until they're nothing but a projection of their emotions and experiences."

He awkwardly gestured to her neck, "And that – that's part of it?"

She nervously tugged up the neck of her sweater again, "Danny tried to wake me last night. When he touched my hand, his death went into me. It's not the first time it's happened. It's the closest call. When we make contact, I can feel them, I can be affected by what they were affected by. I almost died once because of it. If it hadn't been for you last night, I'd probably would have been strangled to death by Danny's memory."

He stared at her. Hard. Lost. Adrift. "I honestly don't know what to make of this." His accent became more pronounced the closer he got to believing in her.

"Half the time, neither do I," she responded honestly. "Maybe once I would have thought this was a gift. But my mother pissed all over that with the circus she made of it. I know how it works, I do what I can for them and I keep my mouth shut. I run a book store. I wanted to be a teacher. I'm a property owner, that's it. That's who I am. I'm not the Broadchurch medium for hire, nor do I want to be."

Alec coughed awkwardly, "I'm – I'm sorry for, how I came in here and questioned you."

"The great DI Hardy apologizing to the freak show," she grinned sarcastically. "Are you asking forgiveness?"

He didn't like the position he'd put himself in. He'd acted like a git to her. He still couldn't believe he was actually entertaining the notion that she could communicate with Danny. "Are you offering?"

Bonnie didn't know if she should forgive him so easily. He'd looked at her like she was Connelly. But she was nothing if not a gracious person, and she still had feelings for him. "On one condition."

He nodded.

"We don't talk about this again," she decided. "I have no useful information for you regarding the investigation. Outside of that, I don't talk about that world with anyone. Agreed?"

He nodded again, "Agreed."

She sighed, relieved, and finished off her drink. "I'm sure you've got more important things to do today. I really just want you to catch Danny's killer. I don't want attention."

"I just have one more question," he said. "Nothing to do with the case. Curiosity."

She set her empty glass on the coffee table. "All right, fine."

"Knowing what you can do and see, how are you so sure that Connelly is a fraud?" he asked, plainly for his own satisfaction.

Bonnie didn't know how to start that explanation, "Because I know he is a fraud."

"But how do you know?" he pushed gently now.

She sighed, "Well, scientists say that everyone and everything has a unique frequency to it. Even solid things are always moving some way or the other. That includes people like me, we have a certain frequency that we can recognize in others. The only other person I've ever met with this frequency is my mother. Him, Connelly, he hasn't got it. It helps that I asked Danny and he denied giving him any kind of message."

"Bloody fantastic," he breathed in disbelief. "Got one fraud trying to home in, and the real deal in front of me hiding it from the world."

She shrugged, "One of the greatest ironies of the world."

"I best be going," he got up with a big sigh and stood awkwardly, not knowing how to say goodbye to her now.

"Right," she said, leading him to the door. "Phil's coming 'round to fix the locks soon."

"Please let me pay for the damages," he said.

She laughed, "Like I said, I'm getting the friends and family discount. It's nothing I can't afford. And I'll be getting a better deadbolt now anyway."

Alec was about to leave. Miller was probably steaming waiting for him by now. "Can I come 'round tonight? If it's not too late."

"Alec Hardy," she said slowly, with a small smile. She leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Still a softie. See you tonight. Drink's on you at the Trader's if you get off before the bar closes. You do owe me."

"Right, that's fair," he grinned shortly before finally making his leave, a massive weight off his chest. Yet it was immediately put back on when he resumed his work on the case.

* * *

 **Now Hardy and Ellie know about Bonnie! Mostly everything is out in the open between them on her side now. Let's move on...**

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 **RegalGirl94**


	6. Chapter 6: Dinner

CHAPTER SIX

DINNER

* * *

Ellie walked in front of the DI as they made their way to the Church through the cemetery. "You still coming to dinner? Joe's going shopping today, so you can't back out now."

"I said, didn't I?" But inwardly he was cursing himself. He would have to contact Bonnie and let her know that he wouldn't be by tonight, unless she was okay with him being late.

"I've invited Bon now," Ellie cut off his thoughts. "Sort of an apology with good food. Joe's a great cook. She accepted."

"What?" he asked as if he hadn't heard her.

She grinned to herself, "What we asking this vicar?"

He wanted to talk more about this dinner he suddenly didn't mind going to. But they were working. "Err, he was flagged up in the house-to-house as one of the few without an alibi on the night Danny was killed. Do you know him well?"

She shook her head, "Not really. Only been here a couple of years. We're not really churchgoers. Midnight mass, Easter, if we remember."

"If you remember Easter?" Who forgot about Easter Holidays?

"We're normally doing Easter egg hunts," she peered back at him.

"And so, did Christianity fall," he joked.

"What about you, then? You religious?" She attempted yet again to gather personal information about her new boss.

"Yeah," he answered simplistically, "I pray nightly you'll stop asking me questions."

* * *

Bonnie had been pleased to get Ellie's dinner invitation. Even more pleased that Alec was going to be there. Maybe that meant they weren't going to pursue her over what she'd said about seeing Danny. They would all forgive each other and never speak of it again. But unfortunately, her head felt like it was splitting open. So, she wandered to Jack's store to pick some painkillers up after Phil left her with fixed doors.

The bell above his door rang when she walked in, "Hello Jack. Got anything for a migraine? Don't feel like walking all the way to the store."

Jack pointed to the wall across from his counter and said, "Right there."

She noticed that along with being a bit grumpy, Jack seemed distracted. "You all right?"

Jack seemed surprised she asked but shrugged it off. "All right. Just this whole investigation. Bringing everyone in and raking them over the coals."

She scoffed, "Right, I know what you mean. They nearly jumped down my throat, all for having changed my name back in '99. Only because Marjorie sounds like an old cat lady."

Jack weakly chuckled at her attempt at humor as he rang up her purchase. "Hope you gave 'em hell for it. Nice girl like you, no way you'd be involved."

"All's well there, Jack," she smiled at him on her way out. "Chin up."

* * *

"Liz, his grandmother, she's one of our sidemen, and I used to teach the IT club at Danny's school," Paul was explaining to them on a bench outside his parish.

"Oh, yeah, Tom did that too," Ellie remembered.

"Yeah."

"So, you knew Danny quite well," Hardy fished.

Paul stammered, as was his character, "I wouldn't say really well. Erm... he was a quick learner. Same as Tom. They were good kids, both of them."

"Why are you taking the IT club?" he asked.

"I try to connect with the community whatever way I can. Plus, I got asked to. I think the last teacher who really understood computers had a nervous breakdown," Paul told them.

Ellie grinned, "Mr. Broughton. He'd sit there and laugh to himself. They got him to leave."

"I'm one up from the man who sits there giggling to himself," Paul joked.

"Where were you on the night of Danny's death?" Hardy cut in.

Paul looked at them, confused, "I did talk to your uniformed officers about this."

"I know."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get much more than that from the DI, Paul answered, "I was at home. On my own. I live in the house at the bottom of the hill. I was up late trying to write a sermon. Trying being the operative word."

"Are you often up late?" Ellie asked. "I was on the verge-side about 4:30 the other night, saw you standing outside the church."

"Was that you?" Paul grew embarrassed. "Okay, err... Yeah... I have terrible insomnia. I have had for about six or seven years. Can't find anything to cure it, so... I'm often up late, wandering. That's my best attempt to deal with it."

"Anything specific that triggered it?" Hardy asked.

"Not really. No."

"You weren't out wandering that Thursday night?"

"No, I don't remember it," Paul muttered.

"How was Danny with computers?" Hardy changed his questioning.

Paul became less nervous with this subject, "Great. They just instinctively get it. Like I say, with Danny and Tom, you only have to tell them once and they got it."

* * *

Ellie and Hardy stood just outside the parish where Paul could be wandering at night. Gazing out at the view.

"Line of sight," Ellie pointed out. "You can see the field that backs onto the Latimer house. And my house too." She stared at the view and sighed, "I hate what I'm becoming."

"A good detective?" Hardy asked her.

"Hardened."

* * *

Bonnie didn't bother changing much more than her sweater and adding a lilac scarf. She was tempted to add some more makeup than she usually wore. Just to make a different impression on the DI. But she opted only to put on some dark nude tone lipstick instead. And it seemed she'd beaten the DI there when Ellie opened the door and said, "Hello, our first customer!"

Bonnie smiled and greeted the woman with a small hug and a dish, "I made brownies."

"Ooh, lovely," Ellie smiled, accepting the dish and closing the door. She sobered up before speaking quietly, "Listen, love, I am truly sorry about what happened back at your flat earlier. I did not expect things to go the way they did."

Bonnie bitterly smiled, "Neither did I. But it's okay. This is all to catch Danny's killer."

"By the way, I didn't tell Joe," she whispered. "It's probably best not to talk about it."

"I agree," Bonnie nodded. "I'd very much like it all to stay between us."

"Cheers," Ellie agreed, leading her into the kitchen where Joe was cooking up a store.

He smiled when he saw Bonnie, "Hello love," and greeted her with a quick kiss on the cheek.

"She's made brownies," Ellie smiled, already dishing out the treats on a decorative tray. Just then, the doorbell rang. "That'll be Mr. Grouch."

Joe and Bonnie laughed as she walked out to get the door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see him standing there in the same kind of suit he wore every day, just without a tie, "Oh, you're in a suit."

He looked down at himself, "Is that bad?"

"No, I didn't expect it," she said, gesturing to her peach sweater. "We didn't get poshed up."

"Neither did I," he said.

Ellie couldn't help but be amused, "Well, there we are, then. Come in."

"I bought wine," he said as he walked through the door.

She smiled as she took it, but the surprises kept coming. "That's very kind of you."

"And flowers." He handed her the mixed bouquet.

"Oh, you didn't need to..." she started saying, but the gifts hadn't ended.

"And chocolates," he handed her the box.

She paused, holding it all, "Wow."

He nodded awkwardly, "Wasn't sure which to choose so I got them all."

She grinned, thoroughly amused, "Bless. Come in."

"Thanks," he said as she closed the door and led him into the kitchen where Joe and Bonnie were laughing nicely with each other.

"Alec bought wine and flowers _and_ chocolates," Ellie listed off, placing things down by her husband.

Joe smiled humorously, "Full house – you can come again."

"Oh, and you're in a suit," Bonnie greeted him, fingering his buttons. "You don't do things by halves, do you?"

Before any more tension between them could arise – and Hardy certainly liked the feel of her hands on his chest – Ellie piped in again, facing her boss with a smile, "I can call you Alec tonight, not Hardy or sir? 'Here's your dinner, sir.'"

He blanched at the sound of his name, "I don't like Alec. I've never liked Alec. 'Alec.'"

"I like Alec," Bonnie said before she could think it through. She blushed when Ellie smirked at her. They would be definitely having a conversation later.

"You can always choose another one," Joe distracted them.

Alec found himself devolving into awkward word vomit, "Why does everyone use first names so much, like they all work in marketing? Why do people insist on doing that? I mean, if you look at a person – I look at you..." he gestured to Ellie, "you know I'm talking to you. I don't need to say your name three times to congratulate myself on remembering it, to create some... sort of false intimacy or..." He trailed off awkwardly, having spoken more words than anyone had heard him say about something other than the case.

"Shall I show you to the dining room?" Ellie suggested once he trailed off uncomfortably.

He eagerly accepted if for nothing other than to get away from the previous situation. Soon, Ellie and Joe were talking contentedly with Bonnie and Alec over wine and chicken tacos.

"How did you two meet?" Alec asked the married couple.

"Err, through work. Joe used to be a paramedic," Ellie explained.

"Not anymore?" he asked.

"Gave it up when Fred came along," Joe said. "I was getting a bit jaded anyway."

"Jaded? Oh no," Bonnie said after sipping her wine. "How come?"

He shrugged, "More red tape. Stuff that stopped us from being able to help, masquerading as health and safety."

Alec asked him next, "Where are you from originally?"

"Cardiff," he answered. "Moved down here 13 years ago for work. Met Ellie. The rest is history. You married?"

Alec obviously didn't want to answer the question, because he quickly said, "This is great food. You make this yourself?"

Joe nodded, "Mm. Self-taught. Mexican's my specialty."

"We should really be having margaritas, shouldn't we?" Ellie commented.

"No," Alec suddenly caved, answering Joe's question. "Not married. Not anymore."

After a small uncomfortable silence, Joe said, "Sorry to hear that. What was it? The pressures of work?"

"Sort of," Alec sighed, still not taking to this subject. "This job does it to you."

Joe and Ellie shared a smile, "Not to us," but then he felt that may have been a smug answer. "No, I didn't mean... Any erm... any kids?"

"Daughter. 15. Lives with her mother," Alec told them.

"Oh, that must be hard," Ellie lamented.

Quietly, under the table, Bonnie reached over and took one of his hands into hers. He was shocked at the contact, especially after earlier that day, but he found himself welcoming it.

"What about you, Bon?" They were startled by Ellie's voice. "I don't think I've ever asked if you've been married."

Bonnie cleared her throat, "Um, no, never."

Joe looked at her, "Just, not for you, then?"

Bonnie shrugged. "It's more of never meeting anyone up to scratch. Or crazy enough to saddle themselves with me. Before moving here, I was in school and not interested. And then I guess there just aren't any men my taste in Broadchurch, it is small."

Her answer seemed to provide mixed feelings in Alec's stomach. Was he her taste?

"Do you think you'll solve this case?" Joe suddenly asked.

"Joe," Ellie admonished.

But Alec had just as quickly and confidently answered, "Certain."

"Good."

Ellie coughed and started getting up, "Right, I'm gonna have a wee. No more talking about work."

"Well, that's us told," Joe joked as she left the room.

"The dinner table is no place for shop talk, you know that, Joe," Bonnie played along.

Joe laughed and started pouring more red wine into Alec's glass. The DI tried to block him politely, "No, no, not for me."

But Joe just laughed him off, "Shut up and drink!" as he filled up Alec and Bonnie's glasses as well as his own.

"Does she like me?" Alec asked as he took a sip, eyes averted.

"Sorry?" Joe asked as if he hadn't heard right.

Alec gestured to the hall Ellie had walked out to, "Does she like... working with me?"

Joe shrugged, "You're here for dinner, aren't you?"

"I think I irritate her," Alec said.

"You?" Bonnie poised with a teasing smile, squeezing his hand. "Never."

"She hasn't mentioned it," Joe told him.

The men stared at each other for a while before grinning, "You bloody liar."

Joe started laughing with the DI then, "I've said nothing."

Bonnie smirked into her wine glass as she sipped at it.

"And yet..." Alec tried to say, but he hadn't stopped laughing enough.

Ellie walked in, surprised to see everyone in such high and relaxed spirits, "What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing," Alec continued to laugh.

Ellie regarded them quizzically before accepting it. "Right, I think that's dessert."

"Yes, I think so too," Bonnie agreed, standing to help her in the kitchen.

"So, how long have you fancied him, then?" Ellie asked bluntly.

Bonnie was startled at the lack of decorum with Ellie's smirk. "I dunno. We have kissed."

"What?" Ellie gasped as she pulled out a pint of ice cream from her freezer. "What does a man like that kiss like?"

Bonnie smirked at her while picking out forks, "Curious, are you?"

Ellie tutted at her friend, "Don't you start. Answer the question."

"The kissing was nice," Bonnie smiled. "Now that the ugliness of my last interview is over and done with, I think I'd like a bit more of it. Just don't know about the type of future there would be there, though. I mean, he doesn't seem willing to settle in a place like this. He doesn't even seem as if he likes it here."

"Well, he seems to like you," Ellie said as they put brownies and ice cream scoops onto small glass plates for the four of them. "As much as an old grouch like him can like anyone."

"He really does care," Bonnie murmured as they made their way back into the dining room with dessert. The men were chatting amicably.

"This is good," Joe commented as he dug in.

"Too right," Alec agreed, shyly glancing at Bonnie.

The woman smiled at their praise, "Thank you, fellas."

Soon, the night had dwindled on until Joe and Ellie were walking Bonnie and Alec to the door.

"Sure you don't want a taxi?" Ellie offered.

"No, no," Alec denied. "Walk will be good."

Bonnie blushed, "I'll help Mr. Tough Guy home."

"See you in the morning," Ellie told her boss. She smiled at Bonnie, "See you later."

"Of course," Bonnie nodded along, slipping on her coat.

Alec lingered awkwardly, "That was nice. Thanks, Miller."

Bonnie laughed as they walked off through the grass verges to get to main street. "What is it with you and first names? Intimacy? You call me Bonnie. You let me call you Alec."

"That's different, isn't it?" he hedged.

She looped her arm through his with a cheeky grin, "Is it?"

He thought she was serious for a moment before he caught her smirking at him. Maybe it was the wine in his system, but he found himself genuinely smiling at her. "I think it is. Very different."

She led her hand trail down his arm until her fingers interlaced with his. Maybe it was the wine in her system making her bolder. "Trust you to wear a suit to a house dinner."

"I don't exactly have anything else," he defended himself. "I'm not a social butterfly."

"That is apparent," she teased him. "If you stick around, I'll have to make you get a simple T-shirt or something."

He was oddly affected by her sentence. _If he stuck around._ He'd gotten busy telling his doctor how much he hated everything about Broadchurch. That being here was him punishing himself for Sandbrook. And with Danny Latimer's murder, it had definitely felt like punishment and penance. But her existence dulled the daily irritations of Broadchurch to him.

"I hope you do," her soft voice broke into his thoughts, "stick around, that is."

"Right," he murmured as they reached the paved pathway from the grassy beach up to the trader's hotel. They'd reached his door and he was pulling out his keys when he looked over at her. Maybe it was the wine. "Would you like to – erm – that is, would you like to come inside?"

Bonnie smiled at his stammering, and slowly nodded, "I think I would."

"Night," a voice startled them, and they turned to see the woman from the meeting who called herself Susan walking by with a dark brown dog.

"Night," Hardy muttered before shoving his key into the door. A stutter of his heart sent his head into a fuzzy state, the world feeling far away all of the sudden.

Bonnie noticed him swaying on his feet and reached up to steady him, "Alec? Alec are you all right?"

The door gave way and they stumbled in, barely closing the door before Alec rushed into the bathroom and felt around for his medication. But it slipped through his fingers as everything started fading away.

Bonnie almost screamed when he fell down. He would have cracked his head open on the tub if she hadn't been standing there to break his fall on the floor. She quickly picked out her phone to call 911. She tried to comfort him, and get his attention, "Alec, can you hear me? Is it your heart?"

When the operator picked up, she quickly relayed where they were and what was happening before turning her attention back to Alec. "Try to stay with me now. Focus on me. The ambulance is on its way."

As she was freaking out, the blonde girl – she still hadn't realized what her name was – appeared, looking so concerned over Alec's supine form. Bonnie looked up at her, "I've already called for help." She positioned herself over him, trying to remember her CPR training from High School. She'd started doing compressions when the EMTs rushed in and immediately started piling him onto a stretcher.

They tried to tell her to follow them instead of riding in the ambulance, but she quickly told them she couldn't drive and was riding with them and they would deal with it. She climbed in with him and did take her hand from Alec's while the paramedics started working on him, putting an oxygen mask on him first.

He had briefly opened his eyes and groaned but didn't look like he was able to focus on anything. She clenched his hand in hers and tried to reassure him, "Don't worry, we're getting you to hospital."

He tried to weakly reach up and pull the mask off, "No, you can't."

She pushed the mask back on and held his other hand too, "Don't worry about anything right now. I just need you to get better."

With that, he passed out again. She gnawed at her lips with her teeth in deep worry. She barely left his side until he was pulled into a room to be worked on. She rattled off any information she could give them, including disclosing his condition. One of the nurses gave her his personal effects from his pockets. She figured they'd assumed that she was his wife or at least his next of kin. She tried searching his wallet for a number for his daughter, but couldn't find one, and couldn't get into his phone. She opted to just wait for him to wake up and talk to him about calling her later.

They tried to tell her to go home and rest and come back in the morning. They said that they would probably be keeping him another day anyway, for observation. But she refused the option of him waking up alone in the morning. Besides, it was too late for her to expect she'd find a cab and it was too far to walk.

She was able to use her purse and coat as a pillow and sleep somewhat in the chair next to him. When morning came along, she only left to relieve herself, freshen up a bit, and get some food out of the vending machine before he woke up groaning.

She instantly forgotten the bag of gummy bears she'd bought, dumping them on the chair with her things, to race to his side and fuss over him, "Do you have any idea how much you scared me?"

"What am I doing here?" he asked blearily.

"What do you think?" she asked him, sarcastically. "You collapsed, Alec."

"What?" he asked as if he hadn't heard her.

"Alec, you're in the hospital, because you're ill," she told him, taking a seat on the edge of his bed with a sigh. "I tried to find a number to call Daisy, but I couldn't. You should give her a call though. You scared the shit on me. You just went down so fast. I had no idea what to do, I had to phone the ambulance." He still seemed a little out of it. She sighed and reached for his hand, "I'm glad you're okay. But Alec, this case is stressing your heart. You have to slow down."

He gripped her hand desperately, leaning up to look her in the eye, "Listen. You mustn't tell anyone about this. If they find out I'm sick they'll take me off the case. I don't want to come off this case. I need to finish this case"

"It might be a good idea to step away, Alec," she told him cautiously.

But he hadn't lost his desperate edge as he plead with her, "Bonnie. It's my career. This is my life."

Seeing the blunt emotion in his eyes, she had to relent. She couldn't take his career away from him. "I won't say anything. But I want you to promise me that you'll take it easy, and you'll get the help you need."

He opened his mouth to thank her, "You have no idea what this means to me."

She smiled as he squeezed her hand, "I just want to help you, Alec. You have to let someone take care of you." She then slowly smirked, "So, in addition to taking it easy, you have to promise me that when I do make it into your room without you passing out, you go ahead and let me do the work, yeah?"

He let out an embarrassed and surprised laugh at her candor, "I don't think I have a choice but to agree, yeah?"

"That's usually how I work," she told him, kissing his forehead. "They'd like to keep you. But I'm assuming you want to blow this Popsicle joint."

"Too right," he grunted, swinging himself off the bed. She stepped away to grab his clothes. He paused when he saw the headline of the newspaper at the foot of his bed. "What's this?"

Bonnie spun around, "A bloody nightmare named Karen. I don't know how she convinced Beth to agree to it. They're really desperate for results."

"As am I," he grunted as she helped him out of his gown. She blushed some when she saw him half-naked but stayed stoic as she helped him into his shirt and he helped himself into his pants.

"I know you're working so hard, Alec," she assured him softly. "And I know you'll catch the sod who did this. But just try not to work yourself into an early grave while you're at it. Promise?"

"Like I said," he spoke to her with open affection, "it's not like I have much of a choice."

"Of course not," she grinned, handing him his jacket and calling for a taxi while they walked out of the hospital. While they sat in the cab on the way back to the Trader's, she gotten a text from Beth inviting her to lunch after church. She never went to Church. She was never as spiritual as others. And Denise and her family attended Church, so she had to man the counter. Since it was the weekend, she usually had one of the High Schoolers coming in to manage things until Denise returned. So, she quickly agreed to meet for lunch at the Latimers.

"I'll see you later?" she asked as the cab dropped them off. "I have to open. And you have to get into the station."

"Course," he grunted, brushing his fingers into his hair. He still didn't know how to say goodbye with her.

Luckily, she had figured it out for him. Boldly, she leaned up and kissed him. It was mostly a peck, sweet and short. "Take it easy today. I'll see you later," and she walked to her shop to open for the day.

* * *

"Have you seen the Herald?" Hardy asked Ellie the second she walked into his office.

"Yeah, I didn't know they'd done that," she sighed, looking at the multiple page spread news story that focused mainly on Beth's grief over losing Danny.

"It's opened the floodgates. Media officer's been deluged with calls," he griped. "So, I'm calling a conference for this evening. A family statement – try and keep as much control as we can. Meantime, I want full backgrounds on Jack Marshall, Steve Connelly and Paul Coates. Anyone without an alibi goes top of our list."

"I'll get Frank and Nish on it," she agreed. "Sir, can I ask a favor? I was thinking of going to church."

He looked up, "That's a good idea. Everyone all together, check who's behaving normally."

"No, that wasn't the..." she tried to explain that she just wanted to attend with her family, since Joe mentioned taking the boys there because it seemed like the thing to do. But it was useless telling the DI that. "Never mind."

"What time's the service?" he asked.

"In an hour."

"All right."

* * *

Alec walked slowly, eyes on all in the Church, as he took a seat in the back. He saw the Millers huddled behind the Latimers and Mark's business partner, talking among themselves. He saw Jack walk through and sit on a pew in the other side of the aisle. Becca seemed sheepish as she sat in front of him, far away from the Latimers. As far as he could tell, Beth had watched her walk in with anger. Interesting.

And he couldn't help but notice that Bonnie was nowhere to be seen. She had said she wasn't so religious, even with her abilities. He also wondered if the Church's proximity to a graveyard had anything to do with it. But he didn't want to think about all that. And she'd made it obvious that she didn't want to acknowledge that part of her either. With that thought in mind, he kept his attention on the townspeople as Paul gave his sermon.

"We are pressed on every side by troubles. But we are not crushed. We are perplexed but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We are knocked down... but we are not destroyed. As a community, the hardest thing for us is to remember, we have not been abandoned by God. We are not destroyed. Nor will we be."

* * *

Beth seemed distracted, but happy to see Bonnie. It was a bit warmer this day, so Bonnie had slipped into jeans and a three-quarter sleeve thermal shirt for lunch. She squeezed in at the end of the table with Chloe and was pleasantly surprised with how normal and together it all felt for them to be there. She chatted with them. She complimented Nige's cooking. She laughed when Beth found a hair and wondered where it came from since Nige didn't have any hair.

She was startled when Chloe suddenly grabbed her arm and tugged on it, "Oh hey, what's this then, Bon?"

"What?" she laughed at the girl's antics.

"A tattoo!" the girl exclaimed, as if she was scandalized. She pulled the arm towards Beth, "Mum, did you know she had a tattoo?"

"No," Beth replied, peering at it. "What does it say?"

Chloe comically twisted Bonnie's left arm so the words would face her and read aloud, "'You are more powerful than God."

"Blasphemous," Joe teased from the other side of the table.

Bonnie laughed and got her arm free, "Seven summers and you lot never noticed the writing on my forearm?"

"We weren't looking, were we?" Nige commented. "What does it mean?"

"Yeah, where's it from?" Chloe asked.

Bonnie flushed a little under the attention, but told them, "It was in a note my dad wrote me right before he died. I consider them his last words. Though, he always told me this in one way or another."

The group sobered a bit, but Chloe still asked, "What did he mean by it?"

"Well, my mum always wanted me to be something I wasn't." She locked eyes with Beth as she said so. She had already told Beth all about her mom's con artist ways. "My dad always wanted me to use the freedom to be what I wanted to be. He'd tell me I was more powerful than God, in that only I had a say in my own destiny, no one else. Once I turned 18, I went ahead and got a permanent reminder."

"That sounds lovely," Ellie said from her place by Joe.

Chloe cheekily grinned, "Do you have others?"

The group laughed at her question when there was a knock at the door. Beth quickly stood to get it, and came back in a moment later, "Jack's here."

For some reason, his presence mounted a tension, as most people stood up at his entrance.

"Everything all right?" Mark asked.

Jack looked lost, and weighed down, "I... found this. Heard the beeping from the delivery bags. It was in the bag at the bottom. He must have left it on his last round." He held out a small black mobile towards Mark.

"Yeah, that's Danny's phone, isn't it?" Mark said as he took it.

"Mark, I'll take it," Ellie held out a napkin for the phone. It was evidence. "Give it here."

"What were you doing with this, Jack?" Mark hadn't moved to hand it over yet, staring at Jack almost accusingly.

"Mark," Ellie insisted. He tossed it into her hand and she made to put it away.

"Mark, Beth..." Jack began, the heaviness of his feeling apparent in his voice. "They're going to say things about me."

"What sort of things?" Marks asked weakly, as if he knew already.

"Those things aren't true," Jack said.

Liz had made her way to her friend's side and tried to guide him to the door, "Jack. Come on, love."

But he stood still, "Things happened before I was here, and they'll be saying I did it. I'm looking you in the eye, because he was your boy, and I'm telling you I'm not that kind of man. Please. Believe me. You have to believe me."

Whatever the parents may have said in response was interrupted by the flashing of lights from cameras just outside the fence. Mark cursed, "The bastards!" and started rushing to run them off.

"I'm with you, mate," Nige promised, running to the back with Joe.

"Jack, I don't know what you're doing," Liz said to her friend. "Come on, Jack."

Liz was able to walk Jack out, and the other men managed to chase off the photographers. When Mark had gotten back in, he asked if everyone was ready to make way to the town hall for the press conference. Chloe reached for Bonnie's arm, "You're coming, ain't ya?"

"Of course," she assured her friends, riding with the Millers towards the venue. Once they arrived, Ellie led the Latimers to a hallway, away from the main room. Bonnie ventured into the bigger room and hovered on her feet in the corner. She wanted to blend into the wall so badly.

* * *

"Why do they need all of us?" Chloe asked as she paced the hallway.

"So, people can understand how much losing Danny meant to us," Mark told her. "How strong a family we are."

Hardy ducked in then, "Right, are you ready for this?" They all reluctantly nodded. "Chloe, you go at the far end and then Beth and then Mark."

Chloe followed Alec out and Beth marched passed her husband. "I know about you and Becca Fisher."

Mark froze, ice washing over him. Beth disappeared out the door and after a moment, Hardy poked his head in again, "Mark, now, please."

Hardy followed Mark out as the family took their places. He shared a grimace of a smile with Bonnie as he walked passed her and Ellie grabbed his attention. "Sir. SOCO have confirmed the hairs found on the boat – they match Danny's."

"I knew it," he muttered to her and himself.

"Also, something from North Yorkshire Police, about a killing on the cliffs in Whitby 15 years back. They've seen the details and think it's got similarities to our case," she reported.

"Okay, later," he said, heading for the front table.

But she tugged his arm, so he'd stop, "Sir, Jack Marshall used to live in North Yorkshire, five miles from Whitby." They shared a solemn look.

"We miss Danny a lot and erm..." Beth trailed off into the microphone, trying to reign in the emotion in her voice, "we just want whoever's done this just to come forward because we're... we're having a horrible time not knowing why this has happened to us."

"He was just a normal lad," Mark muttered lethargically. "Never did anyone any harm. He was everything to us. We just want to know what happened to our boy. If anybody out there knows, might know, think they saw something... then you owe it to yourself to come forward and tell the police. Cos whoever did this needs to be caught."

* * *

 **Mark really dug himself into a hole with all of the things he hid during this show. Love live David Tennant though.**

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 **RegalGirl94**


	7. Chapter 7: Pretty Bloody Selfish God

**Enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

PRETTY BLOODY SELFISH GOD

* * *

Bonnie shivered in the cold night as many people from the conference and others from town gathered on main street outside the Trader's and the bookstore to begin the reconstruction of Danny's last movements. He had snuck out of the house in the early morning, and the CCTV caught him skateboarding down main street towards the beach.

It had been decided that Tom would play Danny sort of. The boy held his own skateboard in hand and looked back at his mum. Ellie smiled at him encouragingly and nodded. And so, he started rolling down the street. Ellie and Hardy started at the front, with the Latimers lagging behind, arms bound. Bonnie kept her arms around herself for the most part, walking alongside them. She furrowed her brow when she caught Mark and Becca looking at each other as they passed the Trader's, and Beth catching it. She hoped there wasn't another problem to add onto everything going on already.

As they approached the walk to the docks, she ended up towards the front with Ellie and Beth, arms linked.

"Tell me this will make a difference," Beth begged them quietly.

"I'm sure it will," Ellie assured her.

Bonnie had to hold in her gasp and her tears when she saw Danny appear next to Tom, walking alongside him and taking everything in. He was trying to remember too. "It will."

"I hate the thought of him out here alone at this time of night," Beth whimpered.

Behind them, Mark was marching side by side with Hardy, and caught sight of Jack standing outside his store, "Do you think it was him?"

"I'm not speculating about anybody," Hardy quickly answered, catching the look.

Mark scoffed, "Yeah, you might not be, but everybody else is."

"Well, people need to calm down," Hardy warned him.

"They'll calm down as soon as you arrest someone," Mark insisted.

Once they'd reached the end of Danny's known movements, Bonnie caught Danny's eyes and silently asked him if it had helped. He sadly shook his head and disappeared.

She was staring at the spot he'd disappeared from for a bit too long, because Ellie pulled her arm and asked, "What are you looking at? _Him_?"

Slowly, she nodded. "It didn't help him yet. Please just catch this guy, Ellie."

"We do our best, love," Ellie promised, excusing herself to speak to Tom before Joe took him home.

Alec coughed awkwardly behind her to announce his approach, not sure how to conduct himself with her in front of people. She smirked weakly as she turned to face him, "I really hope this helps, somehow."

He nodded, "Hopefully someone remembers something, or simply comes forward with new information."

"How are you feeling?" she asked, still remembering the image of him collapsing into her arms as he passed out. "They gave you a refill in the hospital, didn't they?"

He nodded, "Right, yeah. I feel fine, I promise."

"You and Ellie are going back to the office now, aren't you?" she guessed.

He sighed as he nodded, already feeling tired. "Yeah, we have some things we need to check into before we're done tonight."

"Well, then, I put my number into your phone," she grinned cheekily, "and dinner is on you tonight. I already took the money out of your wallet."

He frowned, pulling out his wallet and seeing that it indeed was missing a few notes, "Sneaky bugger, aren't you?"

"Quite," she confirmed. "You need a good meal, that's good for you, and you need to take some time to relax and rest tonight. No stress. And remember, we have a deal."

With that said, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and said she'd see him later before heading back towards her bookstore. When she arrived, she decompressed into her apartment and turned on the television.

" _An eerie silence enveloped the town of Broadchurch tonight as local residents came out in force to support the Latimer family._ "

It was the news anchor reporting on the reenactment they'd just finished with. She curled into her couch and watched, feeling cold.

" _United in grief they walked in silent vigil along the route where Danny Latimer was last seen the night before his body was found beneath the cliffs on Broadchurch beach. Police are hoping the reconstruction will jog people's memories for vital evidence surrounding Danny's death. And provide fresh leads for an investigation that is showing no sign of leading to an arrest._ "

The ringing of her phone caused her to mute the television, and then pause when she saw her Uncle's name. Another phone call? Something was wrong.

"Jay?" she answered her phone.

"I saw the news," his tone was deadpan, but she could hear the irritation underneath it. "You didn't tell me about this Latimer kid, dammit, Bonnie."

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. "It's not like how it was with Romona."

"Have you seen this boy?" Jay asked, already sounding as if he knew the answer.

"Yes, I have talked to Danny," she admitted. "I've explained things, tried to help him. But it's not like Romona, he shows no signs of remembering what happened to him or who is responsible."

"I just want you to be careful," he cautioned her. "I don't want you to get pulled down the same path Romona pulled you down. You were destroyed. And you seem to like your life in Broadchurch."

"I do," she promised him. "This isn't going to spoil that for me. I am keeping my head this time."

"Right, well, you know I worry," he told her. "Kenneth would worry too, I think. He always did before."

She sobered at the mention of her father. He had always tried to shield her against her mother's antics and desires for her and her future. He had always worried about her being exposed to the tragedy that was permeated in those no longer part of their world. It had only worsened when her parents had split up. Her mother got primary custody, so he couldn't watch out for her and protect her the way he wanted to. And then he died.

"I know, but I'm fine, I promise," she assured him.

"All right," he said, and they gave each other their love before hanging up.

Bonnie sighed – she hoped this all ended soon.

And the night itself hadn't even ended yet when her phone rang again. "Hello?"

"It's Hardy," his voice sounded gruff and grumpy even over the phone.

"I'm guess you're not calling to tell me you're heading over now," she said, disheartened.

"I'm sorry," he said, sighing over the phone. "It looks like Miller and I are going to have another late night. We have to-"

"I understand," she cut him off, forcing a smile onto her face even if he couldn't see it. "Finding Danny's killer is more important. Just promise to eat something in the way of dinner while you're there and get some sleep."

"I will," he said it as if she were asking the world of him. But she knew it helped to know that she cared about him and his well-being. "Tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow," she whispered before they hung up.

* * *

"A list of the boats reported missing in the last month," Ellie held up for Hardy as he approached her desk.

"Any matches?" he asked, peering at it through his glasses.

"No," she shook her head, disappointed. "Also, details from North Yorkshire on that cold case. Err... young girl, ten years old. Raped and killed. Her body was found on top of a cliff at Whitby. She'd been stabbed. So, it's nothing like this MO."

"I'll look at it," he accepted the file she handed him. "What else?"

"Forensics have come back on the phone. Mark's prints, but he handled it. Danny's DNA and Jack Marshall's, which tallies with him finding it," she reported.

Always cynical, Hardy said, "Or he claimed to find it cos he knew his DNA was already on it."

Ellie shrugged, "Funny thing is, Mark confirmed the phone was Danny's when Jack handed it to him, but... I always saw Danny with a smartphone like Tom's."

"Did we get any data off the handset?" Hardy asked. Her comment was curious.

"Nothing," she said. "Everything's been set to forward to another number."

"That swankier device that you saw him with – can we trace that number?" he asked her.

She nodded, but still didn't seem more inflated, "Yeah, but it's a pay-as-you-go SIM. It's turned off, no signal."

"Why does a kid his age have two phones?" he asked aloud. Whether he was asking her or just asking himself was unclear. "How could he afford this other one?"

Ellie tilted her head, "The cash we found in his room?"

"Could that money have come from Jack Marshall?" he looked at her. Neither knew the definitive answer. "Did you see your son at the end tonight?"

"A bit," she said. "He just wanted to go home."

He nodded, standing from his perch on her desk, "You tell him from me, he's a good lad. He did right by Danny."

Ellie murmured, "She saw him."

Hardy stopped short, needing to think for a minute of who she could be talking about, "You mean Irving saw... Danny?"

Ellie weakly chuckled, "You don't have to call her Irving to me. We know she's the only one in the world you'll call by their first name."

"She told you she saw him?" Hardy ignored her sentiment.

She shook her head, "After I asked. She kind of zoned out, watching Tom. But it didn't yield anything. She seemed put out to talk about it. I think she really doesn't want the type of attention Connelly wanted."

"I think we've ruled her out," he confirmed.

Ellie chuckled, "You really fancy her, eh?"

Hardy rolled her eyes and began walking away, "Night, Miller."

* * *

When she woke up, Bonnie took over running the shop at her usual pace. She couldn't step away too much anymore. She had to get back into the swing of things. Part of it, however, now was dealing with new orders. She abhorred paperwork.

She also abhorred the headline 'I DID NOT KILL YOUR BOY' that she saw on the Harold Denise was reading at the front counter.

"Can you believe it?" the woman asked, scandalized. "My boy, Aaron, was in the Sea Brigade."

"I don't believe that the newspapers know the whole story," she cautiously answered. "They invent stories. We have to be careful not to let this spiral into something it isn't."

"He has a conviction, Bonnie," she rebutted.

"For all we know it could have been like Beth and Mark," Bonnie pointed out. "If Liz had felt like it, she could have had Mark charged when they got pregnant with Chloe. It could have nothing to do with little boys or whatever everyone else is thinking in their heads."

Denise straightened up, "I suppose..."

"Let's just focus on work, yeah?" Bonnie warned her, going back to an empty table in the back to work on getting her book orders out on time.

* * *

"How credible is Jack Marshall as a suspect?" CS Elaine was asking Hardy and Ellie in his office.

Hardy swung a bit in his chair, "Strong links to Danny, he doesn't have an alibi for the night. He had Danny's phone in his possession."

"Who else is a possible?" his boss asked.

"The Dad – Mark," he answered. "Very quick to lie about where he was. Had an alibi all set to go. Even now there's still two hours missing from his alibi. He used to hit Danny, according to Miller's son."

From the couch, Ellie was quick to qualify his statement, "Occasionally, not all the time."

Elaine eyed the other girl, "Think it's possible?"

She deflated, shrugging, "Maybe. I don't know."

Hardy looked at her, "You've changed your tune." Then he turned back to his superior, "Then there's Paul Coates – local vicar, no alibi. Taught Danny about computers. Err... church overlooks the back of the Latimer house. We're running background."

"Tread carefully," Elaine cautioned them. "We can do without offending the Church."

"Better hope it's not him, then," was all Hardy had to say.

* * *

"You could make a complaint to them," Hardy told Jack as he and Ellie responded to the shop owner's call. The front was crawling with flash bulbs and scribbling pencils as the media tried to get a look in on who they deemed a danger in Broadchurch.

"Would that stop them?"

"Honestly? No," Hardy said. "But... if you co-operate with us a bit more we can clear you of all suspicion."

Jack scoffed, "You think I haven't heard that before? "Co-operate and we'll make it all right." Next thing I'm being charged."

"All I want is to get to the truth of Danny Latimer's death."

* * *

Bonnie had been finished one book order when she heard some commotion coming from the Trader's. She got up to the window in time to see Paul guiding an angry looking Beth out of the hotel. Once they were gone, she wandered over to the hotel to see Becca cleaning up broken glass. "What happened?"

Becca was flustered, "It – it's nothing. Beth is just upset."

"Sleeping with her husband will do that," Bonnie commented. She left without seeing Becca's dumbfounded face. She knew her suspicions were correct.

"I wanted to apologize. Not to her – to you," Beth was telling Paul in her kitchen when there was a knock at the door. She opened it to see Bonnie, who hugged her.

"Saw the damage you did to Becca's bar," the other woman told her. "And I think I know why. Well done."

"I can't believe I did it," the mother said, leading her into the kitchen with Paul. "I can – I can believe it. God, it felt good. Do you think I'll have to pay her? I'm not paying her. She can whistle for that."

"Too right," Bonnie murmured, leaning against the sink.

"Beth," Paul cut in. "Have you thought about maybe seeing a bereavement counselor?"

"I don't want to see a counselor," she answered. "A counselor will want me to stop being angry. I need my anger. It's all I've got." They were quiet for a bit, and Beth looked between the other two. "Mark knows about the pregnancy. He said I had to keep it."

"I think he's right," Paul agreed.

Beth rose up on her haunches, scoffing with attitude, "Well, if the men think that's what's best let's do it." She didn't give either of them a chance to placate her as she let out her anger and emotions pent up for days. "I hate it... this thing growing inside me. I don't want it. It's not right. Danny should be growing. I'm not done with him. I want him." She gestured with emphasis, insistent on what she wanted. She wanted her son back. That's all she wanted. She looked near tears. "I had one job as his mum – get him ready for the world. Set him up to meet it and be the best he could be, and I failed him. I let him down."

"Beth, that's not what happened," Bonnie reached for her friend, trying to ignore Danny's sudden presence in the kitchen with them.

"She's right," Paul agreed with Bonnie. "He was taken."

"Why?" Beth's voice rose. "Why did your God create him and then take him back?"

"I don't know," Paul replied helplessly. "Some people think that he takes those he loves the most first."

Beth scowled, muttering, "Pretty bloody selfish God."

Paul couldn't dispute that, "I don't know the reasons. I just know that this is the life we have, and we have to accept that."

"Why?" she shouted again. "Why should I accept this? What did I do wrong? Why am I being punished?"

"Beth, this isn't to punish you," Bonnie tried to tell her. "This is something horrible that happened and it shouldn't have. It had nothing to do with you failing, or you needing to be punished. This is about someone else failing to be human, they did something wrong. And they _will_ be punished."

* * *

 **Hmm? This one was too short. Another chapter will be up momentarily...**

 **REVIEW!**

 **RegalGirl94**


	8. Chapter 8: Relax

**There's an M scene in here. I had to.**

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT

RELAX

* * *

'HUGS FOR THE BOYS' slapped Bonnie in her face when she returned to the store. She was disgusted with what this town was doing to Jack and doing to itself.

* * *

"How is this allowed to happen?" Jack asked as press and flashing cameras barraged themselves against the front of his shop. "I need police protection. I'm under siege."

"Has anyone threatened you?" Ellie asked. "Physically intimidated you?"

He gave her a look of disbelief, "Did you not see that lot? I'm under siege!"

"Just stay inside. Bit of luck it will all abate soon enough," Hardy told him.

"Stay inside? That's it?" Jack spat, gesturing wildly to the crowd still banging on the glass as a PC tried to get them away. "You get 'em away from here. I've a shop to run."

"Well, not today," Hardy grunted.

Jack eyed the officers distastefully, his worn face even more angry and tired than before, "You're doing this deliberately. Seeing if I'll crack. You've got me marked and nothing will make any difference."

Ellie shook her head, "We don't work like that."

"But you have kept things back from us," Hardy pointed out, face hard.

Jack looked lost. Should he bother telling them the truth of things? Would it even make a difference now? "I... I was a music teacher. She was a pupil. No boys involved. A girl. I'm sure you can fill in the gaps."

Hardy looked at him, "You had sex with a pupil?"

"I had a relationship," Jack corrected.

"Who made the first move?" Hardy asked.

"It was a mutual attraction."

"And you had sex how many times?"

Ellie couldn't believe what they were hearing and discussing with Jack of all people. He had always been a gentle man.

Jack gave Hardy a look of disgust, "You think I put notches on my bedpost?"

"Who told the police?" Hardy asked instead.

"Her father," he answered, flashing back one of the darkest times of his life. "I was made an example of. Served a year. I was lucky to make it out alive." He paused, remembering the girl he'd fallen for. "She was 15 years and 11 months. Another four weeks and one day and nothing would have been amiss. I served my time."

"For God's sake," Hardy hissed, completely irritated. "You should have told us this, when we first asked."

"It was nobody's business but mine," Jack justified.

Ellie asked, "Did you have any contact with the girl after you were released?"

He heaved a sigh, "I married her, the week after I was released. She was 17, I was 40."

* * *

Paul accosted the officers on their way into the station, "What are you doing to protect Jack?"

Hardy was in no mood to entertain him, "Why is it your business?"

"He's my parishioner. He's terrified," Paul pressed.

"We've been over to him. We're trying to keep the press at bay," Hardy told him.

"You're not doing a good job," the vicar insisted, almost angry for the usually mild-mannered man. "There is an innocent man being hounded and you need to do something about it."

"You're certain he's innocent, are you?" Hardy poised.

Paul stared back at him, "You're certain he's not?"

"Your concern's noted."

* * *

"What Marshall said doesn't alter the fact. He has a conviction, and is a suspect," Hardy barked as he and Ellie walked towards his office. "We can't be distracted by him or this press. We persevere with evidence."

Brian poked his head out of a conference room, "Are we on?"

"Yes," Hardy said, quickly followed the SOCO into the room as he slid a bag of cigarettes towards them.

"Four similar cigarette butts all within three feet of one another, within four feet of where the boy's body was found."

"What makes them special?" Hardy asked as he lifted the evidence bag to look at them.

"Timing," Brian answered. "If they'd been there more than a few hours earlier they'd have been washed away by the tide. But there's no traces of tide water on them. They were left there that morning about the same time the body was."

"Is that a common brand?" Ellie asked.

"High tar," he described. "It's quite unusual these days. If they were bought locally, you might be in with a shout of people remembering the purchaser."

"Four cigarettes?" Hardy mused.

"What's the matter?" Ellie asked her boss.

"All that way to drop off a body and then stand and smoke. Doesn't make sense," he poised aloud.

"The important thing is, who smokes them?" she added.

* * *

"He was always nice to me."

Bonnie was startled by Danny's voice in the middle of book aisles at her shop. With a gasp, she spun to see him standing there. "What?"

"Jack," he elaborated. "He was always nice to me."

"He didn't do it," she realized. "Do you remember who might've?"

Danny shrugged, "I know I knew them outside of that night. There are other dark spots in my memories. I saw them often."

"Don't worry," she tried to reassure him. "Hardy and Ellie are determined to find your killer. Be with your family now, while you can."

"Before I move on?" the little boy guessed. "Does everyone move on?"

She shook her head, answering him honestly, "No. I don't think the bad people go anywhere. I think they get stuck here and then they fade away into obscurity. But that's not you. You're going to get a proper send off, watching your family, and then you'll go somewhere peaceful. I think."

"Do they know I'm there?" he asked. "Not like you, but can they maybe feel me?"

"I think normal people can sense the presence sometimes," she answered, having seen so before. "When they're in the right state of mind – the right stage in their grief. And I think it gives them comfort."

"I'm glad," he said. "My mum has always been there to comfort me. But, she needs the comforting now."

Fondly, Bonnie reached over to ruffle his hair, "Good boy. You didn't deserve this."

Like a light, he was gone.

* * *

Mark hadn't been expecting an erratic Joe to pop up at his door and say an angry mob was gunning for Jack at the Sea Brigade. He raced right over to see the group of heckling men just forming, nothing but a PC to separate them from Jack, cameras flashing from the outside.

"All right, boys," he called.

They were shouting at him, things like 'Criminal!' and so on. Nige was at the forefront, slinging words at Jack. Mark called to his friend, "Mate. Get away, come on."

Nige hadn't expected to see him. He jaunted over, "You don't need to be involved."

"Get back!" Mark insisted loudly, pushing Nige back and making his own way for Jack.

"You're a dead man!" someone shouted.

"Do it, Mark!" said another.

"A lot of people saying a lot of stuff about you, Jack," Mark could barely choke the words out.

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat, "I'm not what they're calling me and... I didn't go near your boy."

"You had Dan's phone," Mark pointed out.

"He left it in the bottom of his delivery bag, I swear," Jack insisted.

Mark squinted at him, trying to hold back the tears. He could be talking to his son's killer right at that moment for all he knew. "You've been to prison, though, ain't you? Hey?"

Jack completely sagged, knowing the truth had to come out completely now, "There was a girl. We had an affair. She was 15, nearly 16. Same age as Beth when you met her. Mark. We married, we had a son together."

Mark sniffed loudly, demanding, "Yeah, where is he now, then? Why ain't he with you now?"

Jack deflated, "He died, aged six. Car accident. She was driving. The grief ripped us apart, so I came here. Fresh start." His eyes glazed over, as he beseeched his friend, "They're saying I wanted to hug the boys because I'm a pedophile. It was never that. I missed my boy. I missed touching him, holding him. I miss my boy every day."

The words made Mark's heart clench in his chest. Was the man standing in front of him a projection of his own fate, grieving his boy for the rest of his life?

"What sort of world is this, Mark, where it's wrong for a man to seek affection?" Jack asked, forlorn. "I would never harm Danny. We're the same, Mark. No parent should outlive their child. Your boy, he... he was a good boy."

"Mark, you okay?" Nige called out to him.

Mark wiped at his tears, "Yeah. Go home, boys."

"What's he saying?" someone asked.

Mark lost it for a second and shouted at them, "Go home now! The lot of you!"

The group murmured in dissent among themselves but slowly dispersed. Some still called back threats, "You're dead, mate. Dead!" even as they left.

Mark turned back to Jack, "You should get away from here, Jack. It's not safe."

"This is my home now," Jack said. He had nowhere else to go.

"People have made up their minds," Mark told him helplessly. He truly couldn't feel in his heart that this man mourning his own son, could kill another's. "If you want to stay safe I'd get as far away from here as you can."

* * *

Olly had taken Karen down to the dry dock to show her his dad's boat. He'd barely used it for anything since his father left. But they were both distressed to discover that it wasn't there. He quickly made his way to the station to report it to his Aunt Ellie.

"When did you last see the boat?" she questioned him in the interview room.

"Eight weeks ago," he answered her.

"The whole thing?"

He nodded eagerly, "The motor and everything."

Ellie sighed in frustration, "Why'd you leave the motor on it?"

"Dad always did," he defended himself.

"And I always told him not to," she shot back.

"Do you think it could be the boat that was burned?" he asked, eager for some new information he could use to spice up his byline.

She said nothing to confirm anything to him, just wanting him to leave at this point, nephew or not, "It's late, Oliver. Thank you for reporting it. I've given a picture to SOCO. Leave it with me. You can go now."

"But if you find it was, can I have the story?" he begged. "Don't announce it, give it to me. If was our boat – my boat. Dad's boat."

It was unbelievable to her what her nephew was willing to do and what he was already compliant to having done – what with Karen's stories in the papers about Jack Marshall. So, she said nothing to him and she stormed out of the room.

* * *

Ellie had been groaning over evidence at her work desk when SOCO Brian approached, "Ellie?"

"Oh, God, Brian, I just want to go home," she moaned.

"That picture you got off the boat it's a match with what we have," he dropped a file onto her desk. "The color, the molding – it could be the one. We'll confirm."

"Right," she nodded, unbelievably tired. "Good. Sort of."

"And we got Danny's DNA on the burnt boat, so if it's a match we're there, we got it," he added, optimistic.

"Okay."

Instead of leaving, he lingered perched on the side of her desk and asked, "Listen. Do you fancy a drink one night?"

She was startled at the proposition, and stammered, "Sorry, I'm married, Brian."

That didn't seem to faze him, "That's an issue, is it?"

"Happily married, Brian," she emphasized.

"Oh. Okay. Fair enough," he muttered. "Only lots of people aren't, are they?"

"I am," she insisted.

"Good. Well, there we go," he nodded, finally standing. "Do you need anything from the kitchen? A cup of tea or..."

She shook her head, flustered, "No, I'm fine. Thanks, though." After he walked off, she stood to take the file to Hardy's desk. "Erm... the burned boat. Bit weird. Erm... the boat itself was my ex-brother-in-law's. Bit of a surprise, Olly's dad. He's been gone a while. Left my sister a couple of years ago."

He looked at her in disbelief, "The boat that was burned, that has Danny's DNA on it, was your brother's?"

She nodded, a bit shamed, though she didn't know why, "Yeah. It was just left, just off the beach, with the motor chained to it. I mean, anyone could have taken it, just use bolt cutters."

"Who knew it was there?" he asked her.

"Everyone did," she shrugged. "It wasn't a secret."

"Your son Tom, did he know?" he added on.

"Yeah. Why?" What did her son have to do with anything?

"Did Danny?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered.

He sighed, "All right, well, see if forensics can get any other prints or DNA off the shards, match them against all the elimination prints."

Ellie nodded, but paused before taking her leave, "Oh, and erm... funny thing. I had to tell someone. Erm... SOCO Brian just asked me out."

He squinted at her, taken aback, "Brian? Why would he do that?"

Her embarrassed smile fell as she retorted sarcastically, "Thanks a lot."

"You're married," he justified his shock.

"I told him that, but it didn't seem to faze him," she revealed.

He paused, still befuddled, "Flattering?"

She shrugged, getting flustered again, "Well, sort of. But it's SOCO, they've had their hands everywhere." It felt good to joke with him. It made him look human to her.

"Dirty Brian," he smirked.

"Yeah," she murmured. And then spoke without thinking, "Though I figure if Bon went out with him, he can't be that bad, can he?"

This made Hardy pause for a whole different reason, "Irving and... SOCO Brian?"

Ellie caught herself before she smirked, "Only made it to date two, I think. Did you think she was a nun before you came along in all your godly glory?" It felt good to tease her boss about a girl.

He shrugged off the question, trying to hide his momentary envy. "She's not been married."

"Unmarried doesn't mean celibate," she joked. "Though, if I may say so, she's never actively pursued a man the way she does you. She's just either let blokes pursue her or not pursue her. Nothing ever as serious as it's looking with you two."

"Right, well, good," he stammered, for once open embarrassed and trying to hide it in front of 'Miller.'

Ellie let the light moment pass, having to ask, "Sir, do you think we'll get them, the killer?"

"We will," he said, going back to his work.

"You didn't on Sandbrook."

That sentence made him freeze. He slowly looked up at her, "How long you been waiting to bring that up?"

"I haven't," she denied, but she was still waiting for an answer.

"Sandbrook was different," he told her.

"Did you get it wrong?" she asked.

"Wow," he muttered. "You really have been bottling this up. You think you've been lumbered with a senior office not fit for purpose?"

She shook her head, defending her motives, "I don't know. It all got hushed up."

"I didn't want that," he insisted. He took a moment and then explained, "A mistake was made. A big mistake."

She took in the information with a frown, asking in a small voice, "By you?"

He hesitated before simply saying, "I don't want to talk about it."

"These are my friends, people I've known all my life. We can't let them down," she opened up to him.

"We won't."

* * *

Before he had even thought it time to leave the station, Bonnie had texted him – saying he had no more excuses to avoid her seeing to him eating a good meal and relaxing how she saw fit. She also wanted to see for herself that he was taking his medication properly. She said she didn't care how late he got in. She'd be waiting in the Trader's Hotel lobby with good dinner and a book. He almost couldn't fight the smile on his face as he readied to leave.

True to her word, she was curled up on one of the couches in the lobby with a large to-go bag and _Anna Karenina_ on her lap. She smiled when she saw him and stood to embrace him lightly. "Another hard day, yeah?"

"Yeah," he confirmed tiredly.

The maybe-couple separated when they heard an awkward cough behind them. Becca's heels clicked on the ground as she approached them, "Sorry to interrupt. Just want to run something by you?"

"Yeah?" Alec asked her, not up for light conversation.

She looked guilty for something, in an innocent rock and hard place way. "So, here's an issue. I've just got journalists and press photographers asking me about rooms, and I know you don't want to bump into them in the corridor and I wouldn't normally ask... It's just that my usual holiday bookings, they've canceled, and I'm not gonna make it to next spring at this rate, so..."

"What are you asking me?" he interrupted at her trailing off.

"I wanted to suggest a deal," she said. "You give me a pass on the journalists and I will charge the police half the usual rate for your room."

"Fine," he grunted.

Taking it as a dismissal, she awkwardly regarded Bonnie now, remembering what the other woman had seen and knew about her, "Goodnight, Bonnie."

"Goodnight Becca," the other woman replied civilly.

Once the blonde woman was gone, Bonnie boldly took Alec's hand and said, "Right, off to bed with you. Dinner first, I think."

"Bossy," he remarked sarcastically as they climbed the stairs into his room. "Is this what I have to look forward to in the future?"

"If you're lucky," she teased, setting the food out on his bed. "I got you pasta salad with grilled chicken. Good cold. But if you want to cheat and steal a bite of my BLT you're welcome to."

He was a bit stilted as he laid his jacket on the back of a chair and sat next to her on the bed. "You didn't have to do all of this."

She pulled out two bottles of water and put them on the nightstand, "I don't have to do a lot of things. Nobody does. But we do for the ones we care about."

He stared at her, in no way prepared to respond to that kind of statement.

She smirked at his face, "Yes, Alec, that was me confessing that I care about you. Now eat."

In content silence for the most part, they did eat their food, sitting against his headboard, knees and calves brushing against each other. He had scowled briefly when she pulled out his refill of pills and forced him to take one. But she only wanted him healthy.

"I don't want to talk about the case when it's just us like this," she muttered suddenly.

"I think I can get behind that," he muttered, taking a bite of his food. He had to admit she had good taste in food.

She was nearly finished with hers. "Tell me about Daisy."

He didn't look like he wanted to. But for her, for the kind of relationship they may have, he answered. "She's fifteen, I've said. Beautiful. Witty. My worst nightmare."

She snorted, "Bless. And she's with her mom? Do you get to see her often enough?"

He sighed, "Not as often as I'd like. It's the situation we've found ourselves in."

She laid her head on his shoulder, "I'm sure she misses you as much as you miss her. A girl needs her father."

Nodding, he got up the courage to ask, "Do you miss yours?"

"Every day," she answered immediately. "It messed me up for a long while after he died."

He almost hesitated to ask. "How?"

"He worked as a mechanic. Well, he owned his own place," she illustrated. "A car fell on him. Paramedics said he died instantly, felt nothing. Which would be a great comfort to most people. But me... I saw him afterwards."

"You don't mean his body, do you?" he poised, wondering if he fully and completely believed what she had the ability to see.

Tears stung her eyes, "Right. He came to me, but he couldn't move on. Not while I was so under my mother's thumb. And seeing him, covered in blood and oil, it did things to my head. I couldn't shut him out. And a part of me didn't want to. Didn't want him to move on, didn't want to let him go. That's what knowing your loved ones are there does to you, during the grieving process. It lengthens it. It torments you. He didn't want to hang around so long, but he didn't have a choice in it. It wasn't until I started packing to leave home that he'd finally gone for good. But by then, he'd been silent and almost invisible to me. It was hard."

Out of instinct, he reached up to stroke the hair on her head and hold her closer to his side. He had no clue what to say. The basic regard she had for her abilities and her experiences with them had him more and more convinced that they were real. And he wasn't used to this kind of near blind faith.

"I'm... I'm sorry."

She giggled, wiping at the few tears that had slid down her face as she peaked up at him from his shoulder, "The great DI Hardy still peaky with emotional women."

He chuckled with her, "Give me a break."

She leaned up, almost against his chest, "It's alright. I've never been one for long winded conversations about the heavy stuff. That's for books." She sat up fully then, collecting their containers to throw away. "Right, that's dinner done. Now's time to relax."

He grinned, "How do you relax?"

She shrugged, standing at the edge of the bed, "Everyone's got their ways."

"Hmmm," he hummed, sitting up, suddenly stiff. "Would you..." he trailed off, stoic on the outside, but flushed on the inside.

She rose a brow expectantly at him, "Yeah?"

"Do you... want to relax a bit, with me, here?" he finally asked. "Tonight?"

She slowly grinned, "Cheeky."

He almost backtracked, "Well, I don't want to-"

She laughed, crawling towards him on the bed, "I do remember making a certain proposition during our deal for you to have a good meal and a good rest."

Alec almost let his mouth drop open when she brazenly straddled him in the bed against the pillows. "Well..."

"Can you give up control for one evening, DI Hardy?" she teased him softly, starting on his buttons, slowly. He'd already discarded his tie earlier to eat.

When he felt her hands on his chest, he could feel his heart start fluttering. But not like it had when he'd passed out. It was more like butterflies that women said they got. With a sudden confidence, he places his hands on her hips, slightly raising the light sweater she was wearing. With a saucy grin, she reached down to strip that off, leaving a light camisole. He stopped short when he saw the barely lightened purple bruises on her neck. He started to reach out to touch them but stopped just as his fingertips would have grazed them.

She stopped down, looking down at them. She had almost forgotten that they were there. "Could you ignore them?"

He looked up into her eyes, "Do they hurt?"

She grasped his hovering fingers and slid them carefully on the skin. "Not now." Before he could answer again, she leaned down to do what she wanted to do for a while and kissed him.

He answered her kiss with languid passion, reaching to cup her face. Her hands went back down to finish unbuttoning his shirt, and then sitting him up to slip it off. She brushed her hands on his bare skin, surprised to feel some definition in his seemingly lanky physique.

His hands had slipped under her shirt to feel her skin by the time hers had gone to his belt buckle. Undoing his pants was the easy part, getting them off with her still on him was the awkward part. She ended up standing so he could slip them off and she slipped off her jeans, now in her cami and boy shorts.

Alec's mouth felt dry at the sight of her. He knew that she was in her early thirties – which was still over a decade younger than him – but she looked mid-twenties the way she kept fit. He couldn't believe she wanted to be with him – the old grouchy DI.

But she was smiling so genuinely as she climbed onto him again, pressing a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating fast, "All right?"

"All right," he groaned, almost impatiently.

She ground herself down on him so directly that he felt winded. She wrapped her arms around his neck when he sat up against her to kiss her, slowly caressing the bruises on her neck and collar bone with his lips. It made her gasp. What also made her gasp was the feel of him hardening right under her hips, against her bare thighs.

The tension mounted within them and between them as he stripped away her top, leaving her completely bare on her chest. He stared at her like a befuddled teenager for a moment before descending on her with his lips again.

She moaned at the contact, moving on top of him with vigor before she'd had enough. She sat up on her knees enough to strip of her underthings. He took her cue to do the same. And she re-mounted him with a smile. Her smiled faltered when he grabbed her hips to pause her movements on him.

"You're sure?" he asked, his Scottish brogue deepening in an arousing level.

She stroked his face, leaning in to kiss him, "I am." As he kissed her back, she finally slipped over him. When he was finally inside her, both of them clenched and clutched at each other, simply trying to get closer. True to her saucy proposition from the hospital deal, she did most of the work at her insistence. She moved on top of him with her hands on his shoulders, as he gripped her hips and tried to move with her.

Like their first kiss, it wasn't a rush frenzy resulting from a long-outdone buildup of tension. It was slow and languid and passionate all at the same time. More than a hotel hookup, they were making love.

Neither had expected the experience they were gaining from each other. Even as their movements got faster, and they tried and tried to get impossibly closer to each other. It still felt more than physical, which was well and good for them.

Eventually, close to their peak – their mutual peak, as Hardy had managed to get Bonnie to her own a couple times yet – he felt a second wind of energy he hadn't had in a while and spun them around so that she was on her back. She let out a small squeal of surprise, a bit trepidation on her face. She didn't want him to overdo anything and risk his health. But he hadn't even seemed to stutter in breathing as he started moving into her again with gusto.

She wrapped her legs around him, her arms still clutching his shoulders. "Alec..."

His grunts were music to her ears as his breathing quickened. She felt as if she were going mad from the heat, the pleasure, and the pressure building inside of her. With the speeding up of his movements, it seemed that he was reaching completion with her soon.

She had been correct. Not a few moments later, she felt it all explode, calling his name, and clenching everything within her. His hips moved unevenly, and stammered like his moans, until he stilled inside her, pressing his lips to her neck. "Bloody hell."

She giggled, breathless, "Job well done, I presume."

"Bloody well done," he cursed again, slowly rolling off of her, but sticking close. He reached up to brush her hair away from her face. "Beautiful."

She smiled over at him, turning to lean her head on his chest, "Have I softened the grouchy DI?"

Jokingly, he peered down at himself, "I'd say so."

She laughed, scandalized, "Oh! Really cheeky."

He chuckled, "How's that for relaxed?"

"I think we're plenty relaxed," she said, kissing his cheek. "Now onto the resting bit, eh?"

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, "We have to get under the covers for that."

Quietly, they slipped on their underwear and slipped into the sheets. Alec didn't know if she'd want to sleep close to him. He wasn't one for public displays of affection, and so people assumed he didn't like affection in general. But when she rolled close to him and laid against his side, he welcomed her with an arm around her shoulders.

"Goodnight, Alec," she whispered. "Rest."

Silently, he held her and closed his eyes, hoping to rest fitfully for the sure-to-be nauseatingly long day he would wake to.

* * *

Bonnie had no idea how long they'd been sleeping next to each other when she felt another presence. When she shot up in bed with a sudden gasp, her breath came out in a visible puff of air. She clutched the sheet to her naked chest, waiting for her eyes to adjust in the darkness and catch sight of what – or who – had wakened her so abruptly.

She was startled, and devastated, to see Jack in front of her. He looked so sad, and so confused, "What – what am I doing here?"

"Jack?" she whispered. "Oh god, what happened? Did someone – did someone hurt you?"

Jack averted his eyes, "Has your copper bed mate told you about my family?"

Ignoring the jab at Alec – still sleeping peacefully beside her – she just shook her head, "I haven't heard anything about any family. Why have we never seen them in Broadchurch?"

Slowly, he filled her in on everything the papers were revealing for the morning issue. What he'd seen that they figured out when he went to pick up his lot for the store. About his affair with a female pupil. About his conviction and year in prison. How they'd gotten married and had a beautiful baby boy together. How grief had shredded them when his son died. And how the papers were slapping it all on the front page for the whole world to see and gossip about.

"Oh god," Bonnie whispered as she realized something with tears building in her eyes. "Jack, what did you do?"

The old man had been standing there for a moment, feeling so much more distant than he thought this would feel like. He reached down to stroke the hair away from her face, to see if he could still touch someone.

She felt the pain first. How his body had been wracked with pain and sorrowful sobs as he saw the headlines on the papers, spilling over dark facts of his life with his wife and son and his never-ending grief over losing his little boy. It had been so powerful his knees had buckled, and he had fallen into the stacks, bereaved and inconsolable. He had seen no other action to take than what he had done. He had changed into his clothes from his sleep-clothes and robe with such purpose. He yanked away from her before she witnessed his actual death.

Her body was so wracked with loud sobs that she almost didn't hear Jack saying he was sorry, or Alec waking up. Alec was startled to see her awake and so emotional. He wrapped an arm around her and tried to pull her to face him, "Bonnie? What's happened? What's got you in this state?"

She still refused to take her crying eyes away from the older man standing in front of her. "It's Jack. He's dead."

* * *

 **Poor Jack - he didn't deserve anything that happened to him. Hope everyone is still enjoying the story.**

 **REVIEW!**

 **RegalGirl94**


	9. Chapter 9: What For

**I felt like uploading again. And as a side note; I can't stand Becca. Or Paul, but Becca takes the cake.**

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

WHAT FOR

* * *

They'd found Jack Marshall washed up on the beach the next morning. But he hadn't reappeared to Bonnie since that first time. She hoped that meant he had moved on quickly and peacefully, and maybe found his son again. Of course, the whole town quickly changed its tune about him in the wake of his death. It irritated her to no end.

And of course, as Becca warned, there was an influx of paps in the hotel. A few had the gall to go to Alec's door, trying to get a photo of who they were blaming for lack of closure on Danny's case, and Jack Marshall's suicide. In only one day, Alec had already had another close call with his heart due to the added stress of having them around did to him.

Bonnie hated what was happening, so with a blush, she had suggested he abandon his room in lieu of staying at hers. He had initially refused, not wanting to put her out. But she insisted. She liked the idea of having him close. And she told him it didn't have to be permanent or anything. And so, he reluctantly agreed. By the next day, he had checked out and moved his things into her little flat about her little bookstore.

It hadn't been a catch-all cure for the stress. As with one night, when both had been trying to sleep, peaceful sleep was elusive to Alec. Bonnie had almost been shaken awake with all the tossing and turning he was doing them, muttering to himself about getting away from the water.

"Alec?" she asked, rolling over to face him. She grasped his shoulders and tried to wake him gently, "It's a nightmare, Alec. Wake up."

With a great shout, "Get out of the water!" he woke with a start. And then it was like he couldn't breathe, reaching for his pills.

Bonnie quickly took the pills out of his shaky hands and pinched a couple out for him. He took them with a big gulp of water, and then fell to his back on the bed again, breathing deeply as his heart calmed down.

Bonnie leaned over him, concerned, "What was it?"

"They were just standing there, by the water," he rasped. "I tried to get them to get away from the ocean. But they didn't even hear me."

"Who?" she asked. "Your suspects?"

He nodded, closing his eyes and trying to calm down his breathing. "I have to solve this, Bonnie. I can't fail this time."

"This time?" she questioned, leaning her head on her elbow on the pillow next to him. "What happened before you came here?"

He looked away from her, "I don't want to talk about it."

She wanted to push, but she didn't want to force him. She didn't want to push him away. She sighed, "Will you? Maybe later?"

He looked at her now, at her searching face, and wondered if he could talk to her about Sandbrook. About all that haunted him. He knew she was the one person in town that had no idea what Sandbrook meant. She hadn't recognized the name when Laurie brought it up. But he also knew that she must have always known he was haunted by something. The way she'd described the girl she'd seen following him – he knew it was Lisa Newbury. She didn't question that. She didn't push him to tell her who it was. She accepted it all, all of him.

"Perhaps," was all he could promise her.

She smiled weakly, "Good enough," and leaned down to kiss him before getting up to make tea and breakfast. They both had a rough day ahead of them.

* * *

When Ellie entered Hardy's office, she saw him peering at the new headline in the Harold. 'WORST COP IN BRITAIN.' "They're bastards. We didn't hound him, they did. Now they're playing the innocent." She tossed a black tie onto his desk, "If you want to come to the funeral, you need a black tie."

He fingered the fabric, "Erm, the Chief Super is scaling our resources back."

Ellie gaped, "What?"

He reluctantly told her, "We've reached our budget ceiling. As of next week, pulling back on staffing levels."

"She can't do that," Ellie tried to protest.

But Hardy knew it wasn't so simple. "Well, that's what happens when a case drags on. Bosses lose confidence, panic about explaining it to the accountants."

"Well, how are we meant to solve it?" she asked.

"Chase forensics on the boat," he said. "The results are our last remaining piece of clear evidence."

"They're doing as much as they can but let me hassle them again," she said as he stood to start changing his tie for the funeral. "You don't have to come to this."

"What, cos of that?" he jerked his head towards the paper on his desk. "Bugger them. I'm the worst cop in Britain. Think they're right?"

She grinned, "Yeah. I'll get you a T-shirt with it on."

He briefly smiled and returned to seriousness, "Danny's killer's likely to be there today. Now he's two deaths on his conscience, however indirect. Let's see who's looking worried."

* * *

Bonnie slipped on a simple black dress, no zipper or anything. Then slipped on her father's old coat. She knew she may see Jack at his funeral today. She knew she may feel his emotions, like earlier. So, she opted to skip out on the mascara, and just put her hair in a bun.

As she walked over, she caught sight of Becca. As well as Maggie and Olly. When she saw Karen, she scowled at the woman. When she meshed with the crowd marching into the Church, she saw Alec and Ellie standing off to the side, watching people walk in. She locked eyes with Alec, giving him a small smile. He managed to return the favor before she walked into the Church. She sat towards the back, close to the door. She couldn't look at most of the people around her, afraid that she'd see Jack.

Paul seemed reluctant to start his speech at the podium, clenching the wood as he began, "We're assembled here today to share our grief. And to celebrate the life of Jack Gerald Marshall. Jack Marshall was a good man. As has been made clear since his death, an innocent man. The local newsagent and Sea Brigade Master who kept children secure on land and safe at sea." He paused. "So how are we here? We let him be smeared and intimidated. We weren't there when he needed us. So, today, in celebrating Jack, we also have to admit that some of us failed him. Just as we failed Danny Latimer. The Second Commandment tells us, "Love thy neighbor as thyself. " In this, the darkest of times, we have to be better. If we are not a community of neighbors, then we are nothing."

The whole situation was mounting on top of her, old feelings, old memories, all piling until she couldn't sit there anymore. As quietly as she could, wiping at her tears, she stood up and quickly walked out of the Church. She walked a bit blindly once she was outside, the tears still sliding out of her eyes as she ended up under a tree in the cemetery.

She was near hyperventilating when a hand closed on her shoulder. She jumped with a small scream, only to see Alec there. He had noticed her leaving, had seen she was upset. So, he followed her. And it looked like he had been right to.

"Bonnie," he spoke softly, so as not to startle her again.

"Fuck him," she hissed. "Fuck Paul Coates. What the hell did he do for Jack? Other than to drop all the responsibility on your laps? We didn't do this. _I did not do this!_ "

In the small gap in her rambling, he said, "I know."

But she wasn't done, "I didn't do this. This was not my fault. He made his choice. He took his actions. He didn't want to live in this town anymore. There was nowhere else to go. He missed his boy. The way he felt when he saw their faces on the papers – it was like I was being choked all over again."

"Bonnie-"

"We didn't do this. I did not do this. I am _not_ my mother!"

"What?" he finally broke in, utterly confused at the turn her stammering had taken.

She was panting now, "I'm nothing like her. I did not talk him into taking his own life like she did with the Cadshaws. I'm not what she is."

He understood now. Her mother had practically goaded the Cadshaws into taking their lives to be with their daughter, and that had been the last straw between her and Bonnie. Bonnie never wanted to be anything like her mother. In a moment of insanity, Alec stepped forward and wrapped her up in a hug. She clutched him back and cried into the lapel of his coat. He stroked the hair at the back of her head, "You're right. This is not on you. And you _are not_ your mother. Lord help us if you were."

She successfully stopped crying as she laughed at his dry humor. Pulling back, she wiped at her eyes. "And how are you, my DI?"

He rose his eyebrows at her, "Your DI?

She blushed, "Too presumptuous?"

"I think we blew presumptuous out of the water," he joked.

She continued to embrace him, hands on his chest, "But how are you doing? I know all of this makes me think about the only family I have left. About seeing them."

Averting his eyes to rest his chin on her head, he answered as openly as he had ever answered her, "I have thought about calling Daisy. Just to talk to her. Maybe see her. If she wants."

"I think that's the best idea," she told him, hugging him close.

* * *

Bonnie had wanted to fix up her face before showing up at the Trader's for the wake. Consequently, Hardy entered with Miller.

"Do you think the killer's here?" the DS asked.

"A good chance," he grunted. "So, keep an eye..."

"Keep an eye out, look out for anything out of the ordinary," she finished for him. "Got it."

"Do I urk you, Miller?" he asked, curiously.

She gave him a look, "Seriously, you're only asking me that now?" before making her way inside.

Inside the bar, Becca was pouring drinks for everyone. Paul leaned against the bar and she smiled at him, "Well done, you. You gave us all what for."

He sighed, "I'm a bit worried no-one's going to speak to me again."

"I'll speak to you," she assured him. "Nice bit of community leadership."

"Thank you," he said as she poured him out his drink.

"Just doing my job."

Mark and Beth made their way to the bar then, awkward greetings all around. Becca's included, "Good to see you both."

"I'll have a white wine and a beer for my husband," Beth ditched the niceties.

"Sure thing," the hotel owner muttered as she handed them their drinks. Beth walked right off with her glass of wine.

Mark didn't look at Becca, but he approached Paul, "Paul, Beth and I changed our minds. We don't want a memorial service any more. We want a proper funeral, you know? When it's all done. Then we'd like you to speak, do what you did today, you know."

"Whatever you want," the vicar readily agreed. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Thanks."

"That was a bit of a lecture back there, wasn't it?" Hardy approached the vicar once Mark left. "Tore a strip off the town."

Paul didn't blink, "Not really. Unless you were worried it was directed at you."

"Was it?" he asked.

Paul frowned at him, "I came to you. I told you that Jack needed protecting. You did nothing."

"And what did you do, vicar?" Bonnie's voice cut their conversation off as she appeared behind Paul. They turned to her, now fresh faced, but glaring. "Bloody useless. Your words and your God did nothing for Jack. He took his fate in his own hands. Just mourn him without slinging mud around because that's exactly what got him killed." Embarrassed at voicing such thoughts right to Paul's face, she quietly excused herself to the bar. "A glass of red, please."

"Course," Becca nodded and quickly handed it over.

Ellie was standing out of the way by the stairs when Maggie approached her, "What did you find on Susan Wright?"

"We looked into it. I don't think anything was flagged up," Maggie told her.

"You don't think?" Maggie asked.

"I wasn't on it. Someone else was," Ellie explained.

Maggie frowned in disapproval, "I had hoped this would get your personal attention."

Ellie gave her friend a look, "I'm in the middle of a murder inquiry. I'm sure you can look into it yourself."

Bonnie made herself a wallflower outside the hotel lobby, not wanting to bother Alec or Ellie while they may be looking out for suspects, and not wanting to bother Beth and Mark while things were so tense between them. Knowing Chloe's attitude about Jack, she also avoided the teenager. So, she planned to finish her wine, put in her time, and slip out to her flat. She had kept the shop closed the whole day for the funeral and Jack's memory. So, there was nothing to do. But she'd enjoy the chance to curl into her couch with a good book.

She'd been yanked out of her thoughts by some loud clattering and looked to see Alec nearly bent over the floor at the entrance of the lobby. Laurie quickly picked him up, "Whoa, there. Whoa, there, big fella. One too many, is it?"

"Alec?" she rushed over to his side and took Laurie's place leading him to a chair to sit him down.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," he muttered.

"Do you have your pills?" she asked in a whisper. After he nodded, she patted his hands, "I'm going to get you a glass of water."

She walked quickly back to the bar, but there was a bit of a line at that point, so she waited to get the water for Alec. Once she was on her way back to the lobby, she noticed that he was sitting on the stairs, next to Tom, and Joe seemed to be interrupting. Once both boy and his father were gone, she joined him on the stairs. "Here," she said quietly, handing him the water. She also snuck her hand in the pocket of his coat to swipe his pills and put one in his hand. "Take one."

"Thanks," he muttered, following her instructions. "I have to be late tonight. I have to follow a lead."

"As long as you have leads, and you're safe," she said, taking his hand. "Why don't we head to mine now? Rest a bit before you go back in."

"So bossy," he joked, deadpan.

She grinned, standing and pulling on his hand until he stood. They quietly snuck out and made their way to her flat. She forced him into her bed for a bit of a rest, lying next to him with her book. It only lasted twenty minutes before he was up and heading back into work. And he had been right when he warned her that he'd be late. She was almost asleep when he snuck back in with the spare key she'd given him.

She let out a quiet yawn when she felt his arms slide around her waist, turning to face him, "Safe?"

"Almost boring," he joked, settling into the pillows.

"Good," she grinned, letting herself fall into a deep and fitful sleep.

* * *

The next morning, a large order had come in for the bookstore. So, bright and early, Bonnie was up and starting the large job of taking inventory and dispersing the new material into the shelves. Such was that Alec made his way out without bothering her while she worked. A kiss on the cheek and he was out the door. He had even forgotten to eat, and so had to feed himself in the station kitchen.

"Toast?" Ellie greeted as she walked in. "Don't you get breakfast included?"

"Didn't want to put out Bonnie," he grumbled before thinking about it.

Ellie smirked, leaning against the counter next to him, "And what were you doing at Bon's?"

"Know what I did last night, Miller?" he changed the subject.

Her teasing smirk deepened, "I don't think it's wholly appropriate to discuss what you did last night at work."

He ignored her teasing. "I followed the vicar."

"Paul Coates?" she asked, serious. "What did you do that for?"

"I thought, he likes a walk of an evening. I wonder where," he told her. "Except yesterday evening he didn't walk. He drove. To Yeovil. Over the border to darkest Somerset. All that way for a meeting."

"What sort of meeting?" she asked as they left the kitchen for his office.

"A _meeting_ meeting. Alcoholics Anonymous. Our young vicar is an alcoholic," he revealed.

"Well, recovering alcoholic if he's going to meetings," she qualified.

"Seems interesting," he muttered.

"Maybe."

He looked at her, "Maybe?"

"Suspect alcoholics and you'll have to include half this station," she retorted.

"He didn't mention it," he pointed out.

"Didn't think it relevant?" she suggested.

"I want everything on him. Last parish, old girlfriends. Overdue library books. And what goes on in that computer class," he ordered, pausing when he saw a stack of papers in her hands. "What's this?"

"Forensics report on the burnt-out boat," she handed it to him, taking a seat on his couch. "Blood, hair and prints matching Danny's. And paint chips matching the color of Danny's skateboard."

"What were they doing with Danny's skateboard on the boat?" he asked rhetorically.

"And traces of a cleaning product, the same one used on Danny's body," she added.

"They were transporting Danny down the coast. The killer tried to clean off any traces left on the body," he thought aloud.

"It was a domestic cleaning product nicked from supplies in the hut. Which leads us to believe it wasn't planned, any of this," she theorized. "Boat nicked from the beach, cleaning fluid nicked from the hut. The killer was improvising."

* * *

Whatever Beth expected the woman Karen had helped set up a meeting with for her to look like, the woman sitting at the table inside the freeway-side coffee house wasn't it. Black hair, light eyes with no light in them, baggy jacket and sweatpants. Haggard.

The woman's eyes found her quickly enough, "I recognize you from your photo. Cate."

"Beth," she said as she sat down. "Same. I recognized you straight away. Wow. This is weird, right?"

"Yeah..." Cate trailed off. "Karen said that you've got DI Hardy in charge."

"Yeah."

Cate groaned into her hands, "God, Beth. Listen, that man is toxic. They lost evidence, they ballsed up the trial. My daughter's killer is still out there because of that man. Do not believe anything he says."

Baffled by the venom in her voice, Beth just nodded, "Okay."

"God... There's so much I want to tell you, but I can't," Cate murmured. "Listen, I'm sorry for what you're going through. I understand the pain."

"You're the first person to say that I've properly believed," she gasped.

"I know," Cate chuckled along ironically. "Do you get people who are so desperate to tell you how deeply they feel your pain and you're thinking, 'Piss off. You haven't got a clue.'"

"Yeah, it's like they stick to you," Beth was quick to agree along, glad to have someone articulate what she had been thinking and feeling. "They're so desperate for you to be grateful. And they haven't got a clue about grief. Not real grief. Not like this is."

"I used to assume grief was something inside you could fight and vanquish but it's not. It's an external thing. Like a shadow," Cate described. "You can't escape it. You just have to live with it. And it doesn't grow any smaller. You just come to accept that it's there. I kind of grew fond of it after a while. Is that mad? Am I too bleak too quick?"

"You're like the first person I've met to talk any sense," Beth smiled.

"What's it been, eight weeks? Marriage still okay?" she asked, concerned and curious.

"Um, up and down. You?" Beth answered awkwardly.

Cate frowned, "Divorced." She peered at Beth almost pitifully, "Most couples with a murdered child divorce. You know that, right?"

Beth nodded, but changed the subject, "Um, my husband's gone back to work."

Cate scoffed, "Wow. He didn't waste any time. There's the man for you. Has to do things, can't bear to be thinking."

"And my daughter, she's back at school as well... I don't want to go back to work. It doesn't feel right," Beth vented.

"Of course not," Cate agreed.

"I keep feeling like I wish there was a handbook for this, a guide. Cos minute to minute, what do I do?" Beth begged. She just needed someone who knew what they were doing, to tell her the secret.

"I don't know, Beth."

"What do you do?" she plead.

Cate hesitated to tell her the truth. But ultimately, it was all she had for Beth. "I worked for a bit but got terrible headaches. I couldn't concentrate. And also, that nagging sense of pointlessness. 'What does it matter if I don't finish this work? The worst has already happened.'" Cate sagged even more. It was like she had no life in her.

"So how do you keep busy during the day?" Beth asked desperately.

"Honestly?" Cate sighed, knowing Beth wouldn't like the real answer. "I go to bed. I sleep. Then when I wake up and it's still the same, I have a drink. And then another drink. Then I cry, for a couple of hours maybe. Then I watch TV. Unless it reminds me of my little girl. Which it does. And so, I take a sleeping pill…" She trailed off a little at the end, getting lost in just the thought of her mindless, daily routine of oblivion just to forget what she's lost and the absence of justice for it. She frowned at Beth, both women weighed down by a clawing sorrow. "I'm sorry. You probably came here looking for answers. I don't have them. My life got stolen that day. The best part of me was killed. And I can't get back from that. Maybe you'll do better than me."

Beth felt helpless as she watched Cate drive away from the shop window. She didn't want to end up like her. She was the one person who understood what she was going through. But she didn't want to deal with it the same way. She had to be more active in her grief. She had to do better, at least by Chloe. And definitely do better by herself.

* * *

 **It's difficult to write exposition about Beth's experience because I've never felt anything close to grieving a child, but I've tried my best to subsidize what goes unsaid in the show. I understand better the kind of frustration Bonnie feels, so that came more naturally to me during Jack's wake.**

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 **RegalGirl94**


	10. Chapter 10: Hardy Down

**Felt like updating again. Kind of just posting this one when I feel like it. It feels silly to wait a week or something when it's ready and sitting in my documents. So, here's chapter ten!**

* * *

CHAPTER TEN

HARDY DOWN

* * *

Hardy had been bent over his desk for the better part of the day, just waiting for something to jump out at him. Ellie had tried to get him to come out for drinks to celebrate some bloke named Findlay's last day. But he refused, handing over 30 quid for the first round. It was getting close to the end, and he wanted nothing more than to head back to Bonnie's and forget about the world with her. But he had something he had to do first.

When he dialed his daughter, he expected to get her voicemail. But it didn't mean the beep didn't sting his ears when he heard it. "Hey, it's me. Just checking in with your voicemail, as usual. If you get a chance, give me a call. It's been a long time. I mean, I know... I know you're busy with school and home and... all the other things you do, but... I do think about you. Every day. Sorry. Not getting soppy. Sorry. You had my word on that. Um... We could do video call, couldn't we? I'd like that. You could be my first video call. Before you forget what I look like. Right, well, that's me. This is Dad signing off. I love you, darling. Please give me a ring." He dropped his mobile onto the desk, pinching his nose. He'd sounded needy and ridiculous leaving that message. He felt so too.

* * *

Bonnie had been running around most of the day doing inventory on the new orders and dividing them among the shelves of the store. There'd even been a large influx of kids looking for tutors. So much so that she had to take a table to herself to help with the numbers.

She hadn't heard from Alec once throughout the day. They had known each other for months now, been together for weeks. Neither had really discussed the label of their relationship, but it was implicitly agreed that they were a proper couple. They'd deal with the unknown of their future following the closing of Danny's case when that time came.

By the time closing came, she decided to see him, see that he was doing all right. Before she left, she brewed some of the white tea she'd always been making for him and poured it into two to-go mugs she'd just bought before making the late-night trek to the station. She was a little nervous walking along during the night, but she was confident she could make good time and catch a ride back with him.

When she made it, she quickly signed in with the one PC left at the front and made her way up to the floor she knew Alec's office was. Only, when she got to his door, his office was empty. She poked her head in but couldn't see him anywhere. Until she heard some gasping and even some small cries. She followed the sounds until she saw him curled up on the floor against the wall, heaving into his hands.

"Alec," she gasped, quickly kneeling in front of him and pulling his face up to look at her. She wiped under his eyes, "Oh, Alec."

"I can't figure it out," he gasped, clutching his chest. "I can't see it. I'm failing."

"Alec, no," she tried to console him, grabbing for his pills in his pocket and forcing him to take one with a gulp of tea. "That's not true. What this person did is not on you. And you're not failing. You will find who did this."

"I am failing," he grunted, calmed a bit by his medication. "Like I failed in Sandbrook."

She didn't ask this time, instead just getting closer to him, holding him. She was practically in his lap, stroking his hair. Waiting for him to be ready.

"That girl you see," he said, quiet as a mouse, not looking at her, "I believe... is Lisa Newbury. She and her cousin, Pippa Gillespie, were murdered in Sandbrook. I lead the investigation. And we caught the guy. It was all circumstantial, other than this blasted pendent of Pippa's we found in his car. But the DS who had it, left it in their car to meet another DS for a drink. Their car was broken into, the pendent was lost, and the case unraveled. He gets to walk free. And it's my fault."

Blown away by his story, Bonnie leaned down to kiss him, pressing her forehead against his. "In no way was it your fault. You did your job. You got what you needed, and someone else bollocked it up. You need to forgive yourself. You need to give yourself a break."

"I can't," he insisted, spiraling into a rant that pronounced his accent deeper than she'd ever heard it before. "I can't afford to slow down or stop. They're rolling back our resources now, we need to catch the sod who did this now or we may never-"

"You will," she insisted, cupping his face. "But you won't if you have a heart attack. Now, let's go to mine and _sleep._ "

It took some more convincing but eventually she got him off the floor and into a cab. He looked dead on his feet by the time they'd gone up to her apartment, barely taking enough time to change before he collapsed into the bed. She had to remove his glasses before getting into bed herself, after setting out a glass of water he surely would need to take his pills with first thing in the morning.

The next morning Bonnie blissfully woke up before him and set out to making a small English breakfast. She practically shoved the plate and a cup of tea in his lap before he could rush out the door, "Eat."

"Bossy," he observed, taking a seat and quickly trying to take a bite of everything. Taking a sip of tea, he averted his eyes, "About last night..."

"Don't worry about it, Alec," she cut him off, reaching over the table to take his hand. "You're allowed to show emotion too. Just take it easy today."

As he finished his food, he quickly took care of his dishes before getting ready to take off. Whatever he was going to say to her was cut off when his phone rang. "Hardy."

There was a quick pause for the other person to say what they were saying as Bonnie took care of her own dishes and readied to open up shop downstairs. Hardy growled when he hung up, "Tom showed up with Danny's skateboard. Someone gave it to him. I have to go."

"Go, go," she ushered him down the stairs. Feeling domestic, he gave her a quick peck on the lips before he left the shop just as she was getting ready to open for the day.

* * *

Bonnie was readying for this month's book fair, deciding how she'd rearrange the tables and set up for the next weekend. Denise called in sick, so she was alone with the work for the most part. Some customers had wondered in and milled about. It was busy but quiet.

It became loud when police cruisers raced outside. A flash of fear welled within her, thinking maybe they were coming to arrest one of her patrons. But they stopped in front of the Echo outside. She and some of the customers raced outside with her to see what the commotion was all about. They saw Ellie and Hardy carting out Susan Wright. She wasn't resisting at first. But when she looked around for something outside and didn't see it, she suddenly started fighting the PCs holding her.

"Where's the dog? Where's my dog? Where's my dog? Bloody answer me! Where is the dog? Where is my dog?"

Bonnie shared a look with Alec, and she hoped he saw the encouragement and support in her eyes.

* * *

"Why did you have Danny Latimer's skateboard?" Alec commenced his questioning once her solicitor had arrived for the interview. But she was just staring at him, refusing to speak. "Why did you give Danny Latimer's skateboard to Tom Miller?" Again, she made no move to answer. "What's your favorite color? I can do this all day."

She smirked and finally spoke, "Not by the look of you, you can't. I want to see my dog."

"What, solicitor not good enough?" he retorted.

"I ain't saying anything until I've seen my dog," she insisted.

He leaned back, "I don't think you're in a position to bargain."

"We'll see," she told him smugly.

Knowing he wouldn't get any straight answers out of her, he readied to stand up, "Take some thinking time. No rush." As he and Ellie exited the room, he shouted at her, "Find her bastard dog! Now!"

* * *

The day dragged on with gossip and rumors over Susan's arrest outside of the Echo. Bonnie had been working on a fun poster for the kids to put out with a poll of what new books they wanted to see at the bookfair and tacked it up against one of the shelves with a bucket of crayons. She liked having the little fun she could in her business with the kids. It made her wistful sometimes. And while she did mean it when she said she didn't want kids – it was only because she didn't want to pass on her ability to any biological child she would have. And she didn't feel she was in the right situation to adopt alone. It was her plight in life. A void she filled by running her store geared towards children to impart her wisdom and affection on. It was all she could do.

It was getting late and soon enough she closed up shop after the last of her customers left. Fearing she may need to check on Alec herself again and make sure he had eaten, she quickly packed a small dinner of sandwiches and water, seeing that there was an extra pack of pills on the nightstand, and made her way to the station. Pepper spray in hand, she still felt the pin pricks of fear walking in the dark.

When she made it there, it was practically deserted. She nearly made it passed the front gate, when PC Dave flagged her down, "You're here to see DI Hardy, yeah?"

She blushed. They hadn't really made a public spectacle of their relationship or announced it. But she figured the detectives and crime fighters at the station may have noticed the affections. "Yeah, right, Dave. Is he not in?"

"He and Ellie went out on a call," he answered her. "Would you like me to tell him you came?"

"Um, sure." She tried not to feel disappointed. "I think I'll call for a cab to get back though. It's late."

"I've got it," he said, already picking up his keys. "A quick trip out of these walls would do me good."

"Thank you," she said genuinely. As they were walking out, her phone rang. Thinking it may be Alec, she quickly answered without looking, "Alec?"

"It's Ellie." The distress in the DS's voice made Bonnie stop dead just outside the station and Dave stop to ask what was wrong. "It's Hardy – we were chasing our suspect and he collapsed. He's in the hospital, they're working on him now. I don't know what happened."

Bonnie let out a strangled gasp. "Is he okay? Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know," Ellie replied helplessly. "We're at Dorset Memorial. I can send a cruiser for you if you like."

"Um, no, I'm at the station, I'll grab a ride," she said quickly. "I'll be right there." They quickly hung up and Bonnie turned desperately to Dave, "You have to take me to the hospital. Alec's there, I need to see to him."

Dave quickly complied and lead her to his cruiser, even switching on his sirens to get to the hospital in record time. She thanked him with a kiss on the cheek and rushed into the hospital, looking for Ellie until the women practically landed on top of one another.

"Ellie!" she clutched at the woman, tears in her eyes. "How is he?"

"He's stable but asleep," the DS quickly assured her.

"What happened tonight?" she asked, completely lost. "Dave said you were out answering a call. How did this happen?"

"Someone reported seeing a torch out at the hut on Briar Cliff," Ellie explained. "It's a sealed crime scene, so we went to see. Someone was there, and they took off running. We were pursuing them, but then Hardy fell over, shouting and grabbing his chest. I thought he was having a heart attack. We rushed him here."

Bonnie took in all the information as calmly as she could. He had to be okay.

"I talked to his doctors, he has a heart condition. Heart arrhythmia. This is his second attack since he's been here."

Bonnie's hand flew up to cover her mouth and maybe smother the small sobs threatening to come on. She didn't let on that she'd known about his condition. But she also hadn't been thinking at the time about concealing her knowledge. "Is he – is he going to be okay?"

Ellie sagged at the sight of the distraught woman in front of her, desperately wanting to reassure her. "I don't know, love." She hugged her friend as she cried. "You care about him quite a bit, huh?"

Sniffing, Bonnie pulled back, "I know he can be quite an arse," the women chuckled at that, "but he cares so deeply. He's so determined to see justice done. I don't know how it all happened. But yes, I do care about him. And he cares about me. I just want him to be okay."

Ellie hugged her again, "I'm sure he will be fine, love. He's got quite a lovely lass to fight for, don't he?"

Bonnie nodded into her friend's shoulder. She wanted him to be okay. She didn't want to wake up one night and see him like she'd seen Jack Marshall.

* * *

The sun and the light stung his eyes as Alec slowly woke up. Blinking at his hazy vision, he took in Ellie angrily sitting done and dumping a bag of grapes on the bed next to his leg. "What are those?"

"Grapes."

"What did you bring grapes for?" he blearily asked.

"I hoped you might choke on the seeds," she retorted.

"They're seedless," he grunted.

"Don't be a smartarse," she hissed at him.

He slowly shifted in his bed, trying to wake up, "I'm sensing you're angry with me."

"You nearly died on me," she pointed out.

"No!" he protested.

"No, you did, they told me," she argued with him.

He growled, "They can't do that."

"You discharged yourself before against their advice – heart arrhythmia," she told him all that she knew. "You should've told me."

Bonnie had spent the night at his bedside again but stepped out in the morning when Ellie returned to grab a coffee from the cafeteria. She was making her way back into his room not only to see that he was awake, but to hear him arguing with Ellie.

"Bloody hell! Is there no privacy here?"

"Alec!" she gasped, rushing to his side. She set the coffee down and fussed over him, "How are you feeling? Can you breathe? Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"I'm fine, Bon," he muttered, grimacing around the tube in his nose. Her brow furrowed. He had never called her 'Bon' before. Had he suffered brain damage?

"Can't they fix you?" Ellie demanded.

He looked between the women, "They want to put a pacemaker in me. They don't know whether I'll survive the operation."

Bonnie looked at him, hurt, "You never told me that."

"Wouldn't make a difference," he justified, but inwardly he did feel guilty at the betrayed look in her eyes.

"How long have you been like this?" Ellie added.

He sighed, "18 months or so. It's got worse in the last month or two."

Ellie leaned back, stewing in her irritation, "So you came down here, you took that case, you took that job, knowing you weren't up to it?"

He began to sit up, causing Bonnie to rearrange his pillows and hold him up so he could be comfortable. Even angry with him, she cared. "We're nearly there, Miller. That was the killer last night, I'm sure of it."

Ellie glared at him, "Sir, you're unfit for duty."

He shook his head desperately, "I have to finish this. I can't let the family down. Please, Miller, don't tell the Chief Super. Please."

"I'm going to tell the doctors that you're awake," Bonnie said, quickly making her way out of the room before she started crying again.

"I'm going back to work," Ellie muttered, going after her a moment later.

She ignored his cries after her, "Miller, wait. Please don't go, Miller. Come back, Miller. That's an order. Miller!"

* * *

"SOCO are back up at the hut after last night." Ellie felt awkward addressing the team all alone now. Hardy had thrown her into once, but he was there to watch her. He was still the boss. Now, she was the most superior. She was the team leader. "Frank, go through our list of people of interest – those

with no alibis or questionable alibis on the night of Danny's death. Find out their movements from last night. The likelihood is, the killer was there. We were very close. They are rattled, and they will make more mistakes."

She took a breath. Onto the next order of business. "Susan Wright is in custody, we've connected her to the site where Danny's body was found. I'm continuing to question her, but time is running out before we have to apply for an extension. I know this may sound daft, but we need to find her dog, Vince. We have a picture. The dog is a priority. She's very attached to it and it would help her to talk. Uniforms have turned up nothing so far."

She took another deep breath. "You probably know the boss was taken ill last night, during the pursuit. I don't know when he'll be back. But we carry on. Do not get distracted. Our duty is still to the Latimer family. Thanks for everything you've done. Bye for now."

* * *

When Bonnie returned to the room after talking to Alec's doctors, she was startled and angry to see that he had walked out. He had gotten dressed in last night's clothes and walked out AMA yet again. This time, without her as well. She felt the anger pressure her to confront him at the station – because surely that's where he was headed.

But she had a store to open and run. She had a book fair to prepare for. She had her own life. Stewing in her anger, she decided to simply go to her bookstore and work. She'd chew him out when he arrived back.

* * *

"Don't be ridiculous!" Ellie chastised her boss when she caught him walking in.

"Don't start, Miller," he warned her. His voice was weak and raspy.

"You can't be here," she told him.

"Well, I am," he said, chewing off his medical bracelet.

"You'll kill yourself!" she nearly shouted.

Yet he remained quiet and raspy, "If that's what it takes."

"It's not worth dying for," she insisted.

"Not for you, maybe. Go away."

"We can manage without you," she added.

He gave her a look, "That's what you've wanted right from the start, this job the job you think I stole."

"For God's sake, sir!" she sighed, exasperated.

"Come on, Miller. With me out you get to lead. Dream come true," he mocked, leaning against the wall.

"I wouldn't want your job," she said.

He scoffed, "Don't be daft. If you get offered it, you'd take it."

She shook her head, "I wouldn't be up to it."

"Yeah, you're right," he suddenly agreed.

"What?"

"Well, it's a tough job," he said. "You've found your level. Rural DS – keep within your limits."

"Don't tell me what my limits are!" she yelled at him.

"Then don't tell me to go home," he rebutted. He caught her in her hypocrisy. "I can still solve this. Otherwise, why am I still here?"

"For God's sake. All right, then," she said, walking in with him. Everyone stopped and stared when they saw him walk in. "Right, everyone, back to work."

* * *

Bonnie was getting a bit of a break at work before school broke out. So, she curled in the back corner with a book and an ear for the bell above the door. She wasn't startled anymore when Danny popped up in front of her. "How are you feeling? Did you hear about the police nearly catching him last night? They're getting closer."

He looked distressed, but didn't answer her, just staring.

She set aside her book and sat up more, concerned. "Danny, can you speak to me?"

Sadly, he shook his head. He'd been hanging around so long. He was becoming more of what he was than a human boy. He shuffled closer to her, as if wanting to test if he could still feel her. With a comforting smile, she reached out to ruffle his hair. "It won't be long now. I promise. Be with your family."

He solemnly nodded, and slowly disappeared in front of her.

* * *

Hardy was trying to dive into his work. But the moment he had been dreading arrived when his CS, Elaine walked into his office. "How are you?"

"Fine," he answered simply.

"I've referred you to the Chief Medical Officer, first thing tomorrow," she said, no room for argument.

"I'm not leaving till this is solved," he determined.

"You don't get a choice. As soon as he sees you, you're done, Alec," she said with authority. "Why did you take this job if you knew you were this ill?"

He hadn't given her any kind of answer before she stormed out. He had a guilty feeling gnawing at his chest. He shouldn't have left without seeing Bonnie. But he'd had to get back to work. Now more than ever, time was running out. But he knew he owed her something, as he pulled out his phone to call her.

It rang out until it went to voicemail. And he hoped that meant she simply hadn't heard his call, rather than she ignored it because she was that angry with him.

 _BEEP._

"Erm, hello Bonnie," he spoke awkwardly, almost more so than in the message he'd left for his daughter. He didn't know what to say. "I wanted to apologize, for leaving like I did. I just... we're so close. It's right there. I just have to finish this. But I – I should have seen to you first."

He was still trying to leave the message when Ellie poked her head in, "You all right?"

He gestured for her to come in as he tried to finish his message without embarrassing himself, "Um, right. Hopefully I'll see you tonight. You can change the locks if you like. Um, right, bye."

"Bonnie?" she questioned.

He ignored her concerned. "Bring me up to speed with great economy."

Stunned and yet not surprised, she took a seat on the couch, "Err... Susan Wright's alibi for the night of Danny's death checks out. The owner of the caravan park saw her sitting in the window watching TV with her dog when he left, about 1:30. They'd had a birthday party in the bar which is why he was so late leaving that night. We've had a match at the hut on the cliff for her DNA and prints, but the owner has already confirmed she does clean there. No matches for any DNA on Danny's body."

"So, she didn't kill Danny?" Yet another lead run out into nothing.

"But she knows something, I'm sure of it," Ellie was certain.

"Don't sit here talking to me, go and get it out of her! Go on," he goaded until she left the room. In the wake of her, he sighed. He eyed his phone, wondering if he should call again. He felt like a bloody teenage boy who pissed off his girlfriend. No, he wouldn't call. He would work. And he would hope she thawed towards him when he saw her. Because he didn't know how much longer he'd be in Broadchurch now.

* * *

 **We're honing in on the end soon.**

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 **RegalGirl94**


	11. Chapter 11: Time

CHAPTER ELEVEN

TIME

* * *

Ellie marched into the interview room with purpose this time. She would get what she needed out of Susan Wright. "Four cigarettes matching the brand you smoke got excavated close to the spot where Danny's body was found. There are traces from the skateboard in your cupboard. Your prints are on it, as are Danny's. You lied to us about Mark Latimer getting the keys to the hut. What were you doing on the beach near..."

"Where's my dog?" the woman interrupted the DS. "Where's Vince?"

"I understand from your record..." Ellie tried to get back on track.

"You don't understand anything... love," Susan snarled lowly with attitude.

Ellie had reached her wits end. "Susan, I've been on this case a long time now. I have lost so much patience. If you don't tell me how you came by the board, I will have you charged. You will be in custody. When I find your dog, I will have him put down. Now, tell me what happened."

Susan's face finally changed from its blank smug mask at Ellie's threats. "I was just going out, up from my caravan. Up the hill onto the cliff top. When we got up there... I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"The boy... lying there," she said.

"Anything else?"

She shrugged, "We walked back down the hill onto the beach."

"And what time was this?" Ellie asked, taking note.

"Three, maybe four."

"That's when you walk your dog?" Ellie questioned her.

"It's lovely during the night round here."

"So, you walked down onto the beach..." Ellie lead her.

"He was all... splayed out. The skateboard was next to him. He was beautiful."

Ellie found her sentiment about Danny disturbing. "You've got children?"

"Yeah."

"If you've got kids, I don't understand how you could stand over Danny's body, smoke and then carry on walking your dog," Ellie berated her.

"I knew he'd be found," Susan insisted. "I didn't want to get involved. You people destroyed my family."

"How?"

"It don't matter," she said.

"It does, because it affected how you were when you saw Danny's body," Ellie pushed her.

A flash of pain crossed over Susan's face for the first time. "We had two girls. My husband was an electrician. He used to have sex with the oldest, but I didn't know." She insisted on that last part. "Then he tried it on with the young one. Her sister was having none of it. She wanted to protect her little baby sister. So, she got herself killed. He told me she'd gone traveling." She scoffed at that part of the story. "She'd never said nothing to me. After a while, people started asking questions. Then you lot came, took the young one into care. Arrested him." She paused again. She almost seemed angry, under her simmering words. "He told them that I knew... that I was part of it, but... I didn't know. I never knew." She quieted, reluctant to go on. "I was pregnant. Social Services came. They took the baby. They said I wasn't a fit mother. Everything I told the police got twisted, thrown back at me. He was convicted. Got life. Hung himself in his cell ten months later."

There was a pregnant pause. She whispered, "Death. Once it's got its claws into you... it never lets go. When I was standing on that beach, looking at that boy's body, I just kept wondering if... if my girl looked that peaceful after he killed her." She sniffed, holding back tears, "I don't think she did."

* * *

Pacing the walk outside the station by the water didn't give him the fresh air feeling he felt he needed. He's checked his phone, just to see if he missed a text from Bonnie. But no such luck. He felt that he was wading out to sea, lost and adrift. And he was running out of time. By tomorrow, he'd be off the case. And he needed to close it. He couldn't leave otherwise.

He brought his phone up, dialing her again, he had to hear her voice.

"Alec, I can't talk to you right now," she answered. At least she answered. "I am furious with you."

"I know," he spoke quickly before she could hang up. "I know and I'm sorry. But I am desperate here, Bonnie. The Chief Super wants me off the case tomorrow after I see the medical officer."

"That's probably best," she cut in. "You nearly died last night, Alec."

"I have to finish this, and I'm running out of time," he said. "Have you spoken to Danny? Or can you? Get me anything to work with. I'll take anything."

He heard her sigh, "He can't speak anymore, Alec. He's been gone too long. He was able to tell me once that he knows he'd seen them a lot. They were close. Very close. He had more large gaps in his memory that just the night he was killed. Like his mind is protecting him from the trauma of what happened and who did it. So, I doubt it's going to end up being someone like Susan Wright that no one speaks to. Just, finish what you need to finish. That's all I know."

"Will I see you tonight?" Please say yes.

"You're staying at mine, aren't you?" she said instead. "You checked out of the Trader's."

"I really am – sorry, Bon," he said.

"I know you are, Alec," she said. "Just take care of yourself." And she hung up.

"DI Hardy?"

He glared when he saw Olly approaching, "No."

"But you don't know what I want," he said, befuddled.

"I know the answer's no," Hardy retorted, going to leave.

"How are you feeling?"

That made him freeze. It was wrong to hear that question from someone other than Bonnie. "What did you say?"

"You were at the hospital."

Hardy scowled, "I don't know what the hell you're playing at."

But Olly was tenacious and beseeching, "You were rushed to hospital, heart problems. You discharged yourself. I don't want to stitch you up, genuinely."

Hardy was so tired. "So, what do you want?"

Eagerly, he requested, "An exclusive."

* * *

After hanging up with Hardy, Bonnie felt somehow heavier. She thought she'd feel better hearing from him and hearing that he was well and on his feet. But it didn't feel that way. She just felt like something huge was about to happen – and it wouldn't be good.

Her thoughts were intruded upon when Maggie wandered in, "Hullo Petal."

She smiled as much as she could, "What can I do for you, Maggie? Need a good book?"

Maggie's smile now seemed some kind of mixture of awkward and mischievous, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Sensing a shift in Maggie's tone, Bonnie went on guard, "Oh? What about? Sounds serious."

"A friend of mine informed me that DI Hardy was brought into hospital last night for heart problems," Maggie revealed. "And now, against medical advice, he's checked himself out and marched right back into the station."

Bonnie crossed her arms, "And why does that bring you to me?"

Maggie gave her a look, almost condescending, "Come on, Petal. We both know that you and Hardy have become quite close over the course of the investigation. And my friend said you were there, by his side, all night. I just want to get your side."

Bonnie said nothing, staring at her, and waiting for her to leave. She wouldn't stitch up Alec over his health, even if she was upset with him.

Maggie sighed, "I'm not here to make trouble. I'm just here for the truth, Bonnie. Come on, we're friends."

"You were Jack Marshall's friend too," Bonnie couldn't help but point out.

Maggie's face went hard, "That was Karen White and her lot. They hounded him."

"Don't tell me it wasn't Olly that went on Jack in the first place, Maggie," Bonnie argued. "Don't tell me it wasn't your paper 'that does things properly' that started that whole mess."

"I couldn't have known that was going to happen," Maggie said. "Olly was approaching him to get his side."

"You may not have fired the gun but you sure as hell loaded it," Bonnie hissed. "And now you're here, to what? To drag Alec down for the sake of front-page news? Let's not insult our intelligence. And let's not let you sink down to this level."

Maggie stared at her, "Has he told you about Sandbrook?"

Bonnie arched her brow challengingly. She wasn't going to be intimidated by her friend. And she wasn't going to let them get their claws into Alec. "I think you should leave, Maggie. I have half a mind to let the police know that you're getting confidential medical information from one of the Dorset Hospital staff – because we both know it didn't come from a civilian. That's a HIPPA violation and not only grossly immoral, but illegal." She took a deep breath, not wanting to raise her voice so someone could hear. "I refuse to talk to the press. And until you're done extorting our friendship for the sake of a gossip page, I refuse to talk to you. Now leave."

Startled at the fire in the usually happy person, Maggie silently left. Bonnie stared after her, disgusted.

* * *

Paul was surprised to see Beth and Mark at his Church's door. But he ushered them inside and gave them a seat in his small office.

"Everybody wants us to see counselors, but I don't want to share what I feel with a stranger," Beth told him.

"Don't rule it out," he advised them. "There are some really great people locally. I know it doesn't seem like it but... talking will help."

Mark shuffled, "We thought that... Well, Beth suggested, and I agreed, that err... maybe you could counsel us. That's why we came."

Beth quickly added, "You know us, you know what it's been like. And you're kind. We just thought you could help, you know?"

"But not from a religious point of view," Mark interceded.

"You can mention God if you want," Beth allowed.

"We don't want banging over the head with it," Mark muttered.

"No, I understand. No… _banging_ ," Paul agreed. "Well... listen, I'd be honored but... why now?"

"The baby," Beth answered. "We're due for the scan. But I don't know if I want to see it. I _want_ to want it, but I don't."

"Don't say that," Mark interjected.

But Paul tried to reassure them, "It's all right, Mark."

"My heart is still full of Danny," Beth said emotionally. "There isn't room for another baby."

"There will be," Mark insisted.

She glared at him, "Stop telling me how I'm going to feel! Because you have no idea and no ability to understand. Shutting this out is not an option for me. I can't do that boxing thing off that you do." she averted her eyes from him, "I have to carry another life in me. For six more months. Feeding off me, breathing from me, sharing my blood."

"While you're still grieving," Paul guessed.

" _Yes!_ And I can't let Danny go," she whimpered.

"Nobody's telling you..." Mark started saying but stopped himself. He had to stop telling her what to do and how to feel. Because he didn't know what to do either. "Sorry. It's difficult, isn't it? Sorry. You should talk."

She took a shuddering breath, "All I want... is to swap places with Danny. Let me be taken instead of him. In the night, I lie there, and I think, 'What would I go through to have him back?' I'd be raped, I'd be tortured, I'd have a gang of men on me, I'd be left for dead, if it meant he was safe."

Paul looked to her husband, watching him flinch at her sentiments, "Are you all right, Mark?"

He didn't look all right. "Yeah... We just need some answers, don't we? Some help. You have a line to the big man. Why don't you ask him? We're drowning down here." He looked utterly weighed down and lost. "We just want it done, don't we?" He stopped and gazed at his wife, "I mean... When we met, she was 15, Beth. She was... just beautiful. She was so sunny all the time. And now this life with me, it's just destroyed her, hasn't it? That girl's gone. So, I just keeping thinking how your life would be if you'd never met me."

"This isn't on you," she told him, the first sign of comfort she had offered him.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Paul cautiously requested. When they nodded, he went on to speak his best advice, "New life is... a gift. And maybe you can take in this gift, even if you don't want it yet. Go for the scan, see how you feel. Because God has sent you this life. You may not agree, but... perhaps he's... sent you not what you want... but what you need."

* * *

Ellie still had Susan in her cross-hairs in the interview room, "What I'm struggling with is, I know those cliffs. If you're walking your dog, you can't see straight down. You'd have to be right on the edge to see Danny's body lying on the beach. The angle's wrong. So, what you're saying doesn't ring true."

Susan didn't seem bothered by her accusations, "If you don't believe me, that's your problem."

Ellie glared at her, "I think you saw more than you're telling us. So, have a good think. Or I will charge you for obstructing a murder inquiry."

"I didn't see anything," Susan insisted.

"Like you didn't see what your husband was up to?" Ellie asked. "You were out walking when Danny's body was laid on the beach. What did you see?"

Susan frowned, "A boat. I wasn't on the cliffs. I was on the beach. I saw a boat come in."

"What sort of boat?"

"Little... like a rowing boat. But it had a motor on the back. I saw it come into shore," she confessed.

"How many people on board?"

"One."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain," she insisted. "I saw him get off."

"Him?" Ellie questioned. "Are you sure it was a man?"

"Yeah."

"And what did that person do?" she asked.

"He carried the body off the boat... and laid it on the beach. Then he got back on the boat and went off," Susan said.

"Which direction?"

"West."

"And did you recognize the person that laid Danny's body on the beach?" When Ellie noticed the change in Susan's face, she knew the answer. "Susan?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did."

* * *

Bonnie was still steaming from Maggie's visit when Beth showed up, all smiles. This surprised her, but instantly lifted her spirits enough to smile back, "Hello Beth."

Beth didn't say anything at first, pulling an envelope out of her pocket and handing it to her. "Mark and I went for our first scan. Got a picture for you. If you want it."

Bonnie opened the envelope to gaze at the ultrasound, "Of course, Beth, it's so lovely. Does this mean you're feeling a bit better about it?"

Beth shrugged, "I didn't want to see it at first. I don't want it to replace Danny."

"It never could," Bonnie said softly.

"I know now," Beth said. "We went to the scan, we saw it, and it... it felt like the times we first saw Chloe, and Danny. It felt good for once. And I hope that part lasts."

There was a bit of a lull, and Bonnie felt that she had more to say.

"Um, I was wondering – hoping really, that your offer was still open?" she shifted on her feet. "To come in and help you out?"

"Of course, Beth," Bonnie instantly replied. "Anytime. I'll even put you on payroll if you like."

Beth chuckled. "Only I met up with Cate Gillespie a few weeks back," she said. "The mum of one of the girls from Sandbrook."

Bonnie frowned at the mention of Sandbrook. It was such a dark time for all involved, including Alec. "You wanted to talk to someone who'd been where you are. How did it go?"

Beth shrugged, "Not how I expected. I was hoping she had all the answers. But... but, you know, she's divorced. Spends the days passing the time with drinking and sleeping and watching telly and crying because her little girl is gone. I don't wanna be that. I don't wanna be like her."

"You don't have to be, Beth," Bonnie assured her friend, guiding her to a couch towards the back of the shop. "You know, the first thing I did after my dad died was try to run away from home. I wanted to be someone else, new person, new name, new life. Someone who wasn't completely devastated. But I was fifteen, not very smart. My mum found me at a friend's house within three hours and dragged me back home."

"But isn't that what you ended up doing anyway?" Beth asked her. "Changed your name, moved here? New life and all that."

"Yes, a few years later," Bonnie leaned back into the couch. "After I'd done some growing, some grieving. And by the time I actually went ahead and did it, it had nothing to do with my father and everything to do with what I wanted to do. I wanted a new name because, come on, what kind of name is Marjorie?" They shared a laugh at that. "You would change it too, yeah?"

Beth smiled and nodded, "Yeah, think so."

"And I moved because I didn't feel at home where I was," she went on. "And I wanted to do something constructive, something good and helpful. I wanted to educate and share knowledge. So, I did my schooling, opened up this place, started the tutoring program. It was all about being inspired by my grief rather than running away from it."

Beth was quiet and pensive. Bonnie reached over to take her hand, "It's impossible to do right away. I wasn't ready until much later to do what I needed to do. So, please, if I can give you some advice?"

Beth eagerly nodded, "Please. I mean, you're the only one whose known about the baby and Becca Fisher and everything and never once told me what I should or shouldn't do. I want to hear what you think."

"My advice is not to rush your own grief process," Bonnie told her. "Don't put yourself on a schedule based on where you think you should be. You're not going to wake up one day and suddenly feel fine, get back into a routine, and go about your day like nothing happened. That's not how it works. It's going to be a step by step process but they're _your_ steps. And you have to find what's right for you. That doesn't mean you can't expose yourself to other peoples' processes and stories and how they've dealt with their own tragedies. But comparing yourself, telling yourself you have to be a certain point by a certain point in time – telling yourself that if only you get to a certain milestone in your life, things will be better – is just going to set you up for disappointment. It takes time. Take your time."

Beth quietly took in her words, nodding along and accepting the hug when Bonnie offered. When they pulled away, Beth brought up something else that had been weighing on her. "When I spoke to Cate, she told me DI Hardy handled Sandbrook all wrong, let the killer go. She said he'd do it now, here too, with Danny's case. I know – I know that you're _with_ him-"

"It wasn't like that, Beth," Bonnie tried to assure her. "Yes, Alec and I are together, so I know my opinion is biased. But, it didn't go down the way the press made it look like it did. There was a major mistake made that lost them the case in trial, and Alec got blamed for it because he was the DI in charge of it. And, I don't know for sure, but I think he let everyone blame him."

"Why would he do that?" Beth asked helplessly. She wanted to believe in this man. She wanted to believe that he would find her son's killer.

"I think he blames himself too," Bonnie sighed. "I think he holds himself responsible for everyone on his team, for every little job and piece of evidence, that he was swallowed by guilt when things took the turn they did."

Beth nodded, "Do you think they'll get him?"

"Yes," Bonnie said, certainty infecting her voice.

* * *

 **Isn't Olly a little shite?**

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 **RegalGirl94**


	12. Chapter 12: Closing In

**I can't stand Tess in this show. As a person. She's done a horrible thing to Alec and then her attitude towards him just irks me so much. Anyway...**

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE

CLOSING IN

* * *

"Run me through where you were the night Danny Latimer was killed," Hardy asked Nige. Susan had identified him as the man she'd seen with Danny's body on the beach. He's been promptly arrested. Hardy even found guns, ammo, and a crossbow in his shed. And Susan Wright's dog tied up in his yard.

"We went through all this weeks ago, when you had Mark in," Nige complained. "I was at home with my mum and we was watching telly."

"What were you watching?"

"Um... A show about baking. Mum loves that," Nige remembered.

Hardy pushed a photo of Susan across the table towards the bald man. "Do you know this woman, Nigel?"

"Don't think so," he shrugged, obviously lying.

"Do you own a dog?" Hardy asked.

"Not really," he answered.

The DI's brow rose, "Not really? What, sometimes you do? The dog comes around part-time?"

"No," Nige chuckled at the absurdity.

But Hardy didn't laugh. "This amusing to you?"

Nige frowned, "I don't own a dog."

"Why was there a dog in your back garden?" Hardy asked.

"Someone asked me to look after it for 'em," he lied.

Hardy tapped the photo, "The owner? This woman? Susan Wright? Who you said you didn't know." Nige frowned as he was caught out. Hardy glared at him, "If you're gonna lie, you have to be consistent. Cos then there's the issue of your alibi for the night of Danny's death. The one you told us about when we were interviewing Mark. It was good enough for then, but not now. Your mum already told us you weren't in all that night. You went out at half-ten for last orders, she said, when we had Matt Latimer here. So where were you, Nigel?"

* * *

"You must know Nigel pretty well to recognize him at night from that distance. When did you last see Nigel?" Ellie was still questioning Susan.

"A couple of weeks ago. He came to the caravan. He had a crossbow. Threatened to kill me," Susan said.

Ellie nodded, "Okay. Why did he do that?"

"You'll have to ask him," Susan deflected.

"No, I'm asking you."

Susan scowled, "He didn't like what I was saying."

"What were you saying?" Ellie asked without a breath.

She shrugged, uncaring, "Don't remember."

Ellie regarded her with disbelief. How stupid did she think she was? "Don't remember what you said to make a man threaten you with a crossbow?"

Susan smirked, "No, not really."

"It happens a lot to you, does it?"

"Off and on. It ain't always a crossbow," she said smugly.

"So, Nigel threatens you for some unknown reason and you frame him as the killer?" Ellie guessed.

Susan scowled, "It was _him_ carrying that body."

* * *

"How do you know Susan Wright?" Hardy interrogated.

"I don't want to talk about her," Nige said angrily. "You should have her arrested, have her in for harassment. I told her to leave me alone, but she wouldn't."

"When did she start harassing you?"

"The moment she got here. Like... four or five months back," Nige shrugged it off.

"What's she harassing you about?"

Nige didn't answer, averting his eyes.

Hardy pressed, "Susan Wright told us she believes you killed Danny Latimer. She said she saw you on the beach with a boat, dragging Danny's body."

"She's lying."

"Did you drag Danny's body onto the beach?"

Again, Nige remained silent.

"Did you kill Danny?"

Nige vehemently denied it, "No, he's my best mate's boy. Why would I?"

"Then why is Susan Wright saying otherwise? What's she got to harass you about?" Hardy pushed him.

Nige was quiet for a moment before he finally confessed, "She says she's my mum."

* * *

"Her son?" Ellie asked Hardy as they took a breather to meet up in the hallway. "And she's accusing him of murder? What's going on between them two?"

"You'd better ask her," Hardy said.

* * *

Susan confessed to Ellie, reluctantly, "They took him away from me when everything happened. 25 years. Then the law changed. You could request contact. Took me 18 months to track him down."

"And then you roll into town and tell him he's your son," Ellie guessed.

"He reacted badly. Didn't want nothing to do with me. He threatened me with a crossbow," Susan emphasized the last part.

"Does he know about your family, about what happened?" Ellie asked Susan.

Susan scowled at her, "You don't tell him."

Ellie shook her head, "What I'm having trouble with, if you're his mum and you want to be reconciled with him, why did you tell us he was on the beach that night? I'm a mum, and whatever my child had done, I would want to protect them."

"I _am_ protecting him," Susan insisted. "I told you because I'm scared. For him. Because it's not his fault. If he's his father's son, what is he capable of? What might he have done? I can't just let it happen. Not again."

* * *

"I didn't know I was adopted until she came," Nige explained to Hardy.

"And when she told you, you reacted by threatening to kill her with a crossbow?" Hardy asked sarcastically.

Nige cringed when Hardy brought up the crossbow, "I know, and that was stupid, but with everything that was going on, she... she didn't belong here. There's enough to deal with."

"Nigel, you need to tell us where you were the night Danny died."

"At night... I went out, just for a couple of hours. I went to the estate. Past Oak Farm. They've been laying down pheasant, so I just went and got a couple. I mean, he's got dozens. He don't even know," Nige admitted.

"You were nicking pheasants?" Hardy asked incredulously.

"Yeah," he nodded. "The butcher in town takes 'em off my hands. It's not like... like I'm gonna make me fortune working with Mark. But... I forgot to fill up the van. So, um... I siphoned some diesel out of his tractor. And then I cut through the barbed-wire fence to make it look like a break-in. But I was nowhere near that beach. Whatever she thought she saw, she didn't."

"So, she's lying?" Hardy poised.

"Mate, I don't even know who she is," Nige insisted.

Hardy paused, looking at the man across the table. "Do you want to know... who she is?" He pulled out the file they'd compiled about her. "Because... in here there are newspaper articles about her. About her husband." He slid the file towards him. "It's your family, Nigel. Interview paused 3:02pm."

* * *

"You did what?" Ellie berated her boss when he told her what happened in his interview with Nigel.

"He wanted to know," Hardy justified.

"I promised her!"

"What did you do that for?" he asked her as they headed into his office.

"I was gaining her trust!"

"I was gaining his," he rebutted. "We have to cut through what's connected to Danny and what isn't."

"You're the only one running out of time. These are people's lives you're trampling on. I should make a complaint," she rose her voice.

Hardy gave her a look and shut his office door, "Go ahead. Add it to the list. I'll sign it for you. He's a suspect. He was seen with the body. The information I gave him has bearing on the witness who is accusing him."

"You should have let her tell him," Ellie insisted. "I don't believe Nigel was capable of killing Danny."

"Everyone we have interviewed is capable in the right circumstances," he said.

"That's your view of the world. I don't know how you sleep," she commented.

His answer was delayed, "Who says I sleep?" as he read a report left on his desk. "Have you seen this? I got them to trace the number of the call that phoned in to tell us the light was on in the hut. It's Danny's mobile. It's the missing smartphone."

"Oh, my God," she responded, nearly just to herself.

"The killer phoned in. Why would he do that? Why tell us where they were and then run? That doesn't make sense," he lamented, leaning against his wall. "Oh, for God's sake. As if working with you wasn't annoying enough, what are they playing at?" He paused, composing himself. He had a job to do. "All right. Get Nigel and Susan released on bail. Have them lodge their passports here and report in every day."

"You're gonna let them both out together?" she asked incredulously.

"I'll cobble together some surveillance. Use some of those numpties they drafted in. Maybe Nigel and Susan are both lying. Let's see what happens," he told her.

"Light the blue touch paper and then retire?" she snarked.

"We're running out of time," he insisted as his phone rang.

"Well, you might be," she said as he answered.

"Hello – Yeah. I'll be right over," he hung up and grabbed his coat, leaving the office.

Ellie partly followed him, "Over where?" But he ignored her. "You... Ugh!"

As he left and reached the door to the hallway, his vision went hazy for a moment. His hand slipped on the door handle and he fell against it. He could see some of the PCs watching him as he tried to regain his wits. He was running out of time. He had to get this case closed. Today.

* * *

"I've got something for you," Paul told Hardy, holding out a box of computer bits and pieces. "This is Tom Miller's laptop. I caught him smashing it up in the woods."

"You just stumbled across him?" he asked.

Paul shrugged, "I was out walking. It's the route I take."

"Do you know what he was trying to get rid of?" Hardy asked.

"I've no idea," Paul answered honestly.

"Why did he do that, just after his best mate's died?" Hardy asked aloud.

"Were they best friends?" Paul questioned. "I didn't see much evidence of it. I had to break up a fight between them."

"When was this?" Why hadn't Hardy ever been told?

"A couple of months ago. They were having a row. Tom was really, really laying into Danny. And he's that much bigger. I reported it to both sets of parents. I thought Ellie would have told you," Paul explained to him.

Hardy shook his head, "No. She didn't mention it."

Paul nodded, and paused, hesitant and nervous, "Look, I should tell you that Tom knows that I have this. He threatened to tell you that I abused Danny, if I handed it over."

"He said that?" Hardy asked, surprised to say the least. "And did you... abuse Danny?"

"No," Paul answered strongly.

Hardy wasn't sure if he believed it. "What were you talking to Tom Miller about at Jack Marshall's wake?"

"I was just making sure he was okay," he answered.

Hardy stared at him for a moment. Wondering if it was worth it to take the priest's word. But he decided to accept it for now and just walk away. "Thanks."

* * *

Bonnie was sweeping the store floors after closing. She couldn't go up to her apartment. She couldn't even try to go to sleep. She had to see Alec come back. She had to see that he made it to the end of the day. And right now, she felt distant from their relationship. She felt she had no clue what the future held for them. He was being forced off the case. Would he stay in Broadchurch? Would he want to stay with her? Or did he hate the beach town so much that he'd leave? Would he want her to go with him? She didn't know what was going to happen.

She was startled when she heard a light knocking at her store front door. She looked over to see Alec standing just outside, hands in his pockets. Hat in hand, so to speak.

Slowly, she walked over and unlocked the door, opening it for him. "I didn't change the locks. But I'm still angry with you."

"I know," he replied, voice low. "Oliver approached me. He knows about last night."

"I know," she sighed. "Maggie came by here. I sent her away."

"I agreed to an exclusive with him."

She gaped at him, "Why would you do that?"

"To get it over with," he shrugged. "Tell them what I want, so they don't go pissing about with wild theories like they usually do."

"When?"

"Now," he said, jerking his head to the wall she shared with the Echo. "Would you come with me?"

She eyed him, seeing him and remembering his body laid up in the hospital bed, fighting for life. And then remembering the empty hospital bed. "Why?"

"I want you there," he replied openly. "I _need_ you there."

"What about what I need, Alec?" she asked, cursing herself for the tears stinging her eyes. "You still refuse to take care of yourself. You refuse to slow down, even if it kills you. And what about me?" She stepped closer to him, pressing her palm into his chest above his heart. "Eight weeks you've been in town, working this case. Eight weeks we've known each other. And against your better efforts, you've burrowed your way into my life and I would like for you to stay a part of it."

"Bonnie-"

"Let me finish," she snapped. "I want Danny's killer caught. I do. And I want the Latimers' pain to end. But I also want you to be alive at the end of this. My worst fear right now, is that one day – soon even – you're going to appear to me the way Danny and Jack did. That I'm going to see you when you're dead and mourn you with you right in front of me. Just like I had to with my father. And I can't do it, Alec. I can't."

He brought her into his chest, wiped away her tears, kissed her forehead, "I'm sorry. That's not going to happen."

She sighed into his chest, "I love you, Alec."

He was startled by her confession, his hand stroking her hair pausing in its actions. She waited anxiously for his answer, inwardly deciding that it didn't matter if he said it back or not. As long as he didn't brush it away like nothing.

His hand resumed its stroking, and she felt him kiss the top of her head, "I love you too, Bonnie."

With a smile, she decided not to bring too much attention to his confession and embarrass him. She pulled back, pressed her lips to his, and said, "Let's get this interview over with."

* * *

"All right. Can you just take us through what happened last night?" Olly asked as Alec sat down with him and Maggie at a table in the Echo. Bonnie stood just behind Alec, leaning on a desk as she watched.

Tiredly, he rubbed at his eyes, "I was pursuing a suspect. There was an incident and I was injured."

"Can you name the suspect?" Maggie asked.

He shook his head, "No. And I'm asking you don't publish this yet. Give me a couple of days."

Maggie and Olly shared a look before she agreed, "All right. Olly just has a couple of questions first."

"Oh, does he?" Alec responded, looking to the eager young reporter.

"The Sandbrook case fell apart at the trial. Tell me what went wrong," Olly requested.

Alec's face dropped, "Are you serious?"

Maggie grinned, "He's more than serious. He's my protege."

Bonnie scowled at them but didn't say anything.

Olly regarded him, calm and honest, "We've seen you here. We know you're doing your best for the family, the town. I don't think it was any different on Sandbrook. So, tell me what happened. How did it all go so wrong? You can't keep it secret forever."

Alec looked back at Bonnie, wondering if he could possibly admit the whole truth in front of her. After her encouraging smile, he decided that he could. That she needed to know. With a great sigh, he said, "Maybe you're right."

Maggie and Olly shared excited glances, sitting up at attention to hear the real story.

"Maybe it is time," he looked down at the table. He couldn't possibly get through this if he saw their eager faces, or Bonnie's soft one. "We had our prime suspect, but all of the evidence was circumstantial. Um... but then during a... search of a car that he'd just sold... one of my DS's found a pendant... belonging to one of the girls. There were clearly prints on it. It was the smoking gun. My DS was taking the bagged evidence back to HQ... and... she... stopped at a hotel for a drink and her car was broken into. The car radio and valuables in her bag were all taken. Just a quick smash and grab. Local kids, probably."

"And the pendant?" Olly guessed.

He nodded, "Yeah. We couldn't make the case after that, so he's still out there."

Olly frowned, "Why did she stop off at the hotel?"

He didn't want to get into those reasons. But the whole truth had to come out sometime. "She was having an affair with one of the other DS's on the team. She thought she'd celebrate."

"But this was all reported at the time," Maggie pointed out, trying to piece it all together, the new narrative. "The Herald got the story. But they said it was you, your car. You took the blame."

He nodded, arms crossed, "It happened on my watch."

"She deceived you," Olly pointed out, seeing the DI in a new light. He took a metaphorical bullet for an employee, let the world badger him for something he didn't do.

Now was the harsh truth he didn't want to admit, especially in front of Bonnie. But her calming presence did help him force the words out, as much as he didn't want to relive the pain attached. "This detective sergeant... she was my wife."

Bonnie barely had time to hold in her gasp. And the reporters couldn't reign in their shock.

"We have a daughter and I didn't want her knowing that about her mother."

Bonnie stepped behind him and laid her hand on his shoulder, squeezing to show her support. Vulnerably, he reached up to hold her hand.

"So... you took the blame," Maggie observed in disbelief. "You took all that flak for years. The family think it's you. But you didn't do it. This is what made you ill, isn't it?"

"People need to know about this," Olly insisted.

"Do they? Really?" Alec rebutted. "Why?" He took a breath, squeezing Bonnie's hand, and insisting, "Just do me a favor and tell the family first, will you? Just tell them I haven't given up on Sandbrook and that the case is still open," his voice nearly broke on his words. "And then do whatever you like with it. Call your friend Karen. This is what she's always wanting." He leaned forward, emphasizing his next order, "On one condition. You do not name that DS."

Once they agreed, it was like all the weight of it was finally off of him, "Right. Well, I'm done."

Quietly, he and Bonnie walked out of the Echo, and clamored into her shop. She clenched his hand, "You have to go back in, don't you?"

He sighed heavily, "I have to do all I can before the Chief Super forces me off the case. I am so close, I can practically taste it, Bonnie."

Bonnie rubbed at her tired eyes, "Yeah, okay, but I have to come with you. I'm not going to be able to sleep with you in the office."

He resisted, "You can't be exposed to privileged information, Bonnie."

She put her hands on her hips, "So, I'll bring a book, my noise canceling headphones. Probably pass out on your couch." She stepped closer to him, hands on his chest, "But, Alec, we just said we loved each other not one hour ago. I'm not letting you get far away tonight."

With a sudden impulse that took even him by surprise, he leaned down to kiss her with more fire than he ever had before. He could see the end in sight, and just as Bonnie did, he wondered what that end might mean for them. He wasn't one to get caught up in the romance of things. But he knew if she could see him as he was, accept it all, and even love him, then she was someone worth holding onto and working to keep in his life.

Bonnie's squeal was swallowed by his mouth on hers. But she did immediately return with fervor. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he cradled her head in his hands. And when they pulled away, they were panting with want. But he did have to go into work. With a smile, she quickly retrieved what she needed from her apartment and left with him.

* * *

Hardy suppressed a smile at the sight of Bonnie curled up on his office couch, book fallen to her feet and noise canceling headphones on her ears blaring Mozart. She had fallen asleep promptly twenty minutes into settling into the couch, just because he was in the room, safe.

"Miller?" he called, standing in his doorway. "Forensics from the hut. Boot print in the mud up the hill matches one they found inside. It's a man's size ten. What's Nigel Carter's shoe size?"

Ellie scrambled with her notes, "Ten. So, what? You think Susan did see Nige?"

He commenced with his borderline rhetorical questions, "Are we missing something here? What if another person was involved?"

"Is this something for the morning?" she sighed.

He nodded, it was late. But he phrased the rest of the conversation as innocuous as possible. "Oh, by the way. Your boy and Danny. Did they fall out?"

"No," she replied, confused by the question.

"Paul Coates, the vicar, said there was a fight. He mentioned it to you," he told her.

She shook her head, hackles raised, "No, he didn't. Are you saying I've been covering for my son?"

"No," he replied calmly.

"You do that when you're on the back foot. You lash out," she accused.

He remained cool. "When did Danny last come up to your house?"

"It's 2 a. m. I don't know," she groaned.

"Last month? Last two months?" he questioned.

"A bit longer," she ground out.

"Can we borrow Tom's computer?"

"Fine. Good night." And she left.

Bonnie had no idea how long they'd been at the office and how long she'd been asleep. She was slowly waking up, her long hair tugging the headphones slightly off her ears to hear Alec muttering to himself in front of his computer.

"Of course. Shit."

"Alec?" she grunted tiredly.

"Hey, ignore me," he spoke softly.

She instead sat up and looked at him, blinking her former-sleeping eyes, "You've cracked it."

He looked at her. He wanted to confirm it. He wanted to tell her that he definitely and definitively knew who the killer was. But he needed to be sure. "I-"

"Tell me when you've arrested him," she cut him off, and understanding smile on her face.

He gave her a small smile, "I could kiss you."

She smirked, "What do you mean 'could'?"

He slowly stood from his chair and sat by her knees on the couch. He took his glasses off first before kissing her, slowly and softly. "Let's go home. It's my last day tomorrow."

She stroked his cheek, "You're going to close the case tomorrow."

* * *

 **We're almost done guys.**

 **REVIEW!**

 **RegalGirl94**


	13. Chapter 13: The Arrest

**This is the last chapter guys!**

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE ARREST

* * *

Bonnie got out a morning kiss and a 'good luck' to Alec before he raced to the hospital for his appointment with the Chief Medical Officer. It was a few hours later when she got a call from him.

"I'm surrounded by bloody incompetence," he ranted. His accent went so much deeper, she idly thought it attractive. If only he wasn't ranting about a murder investigation. "One of our key witnesses has disappeared, the PC lost sight of one of our chief suspects, and according to Miller, Tom says his computer was stolen."

"Alec," she spoke lightly but warning. He couldn't tell her details.

"Right," he caught on. "The CS wants my desk cleaned up by the end of the day. But I truly believe I know who the killer is."

"Then get what you need," she encouraged him. "I know you can. And when you make the arrest, I will be here ready to celebrate with you."

"Right," he repeated. "I'll talk to you later. And... Bonnie?"

"Yes, Alec?" she asked as she cleaned up crayons.

"I love you."

She was honestly surprised that he stated it bluntly, without provocation. He wasn't one to wear his emotions out like that. But she was tickled to hear it anyway, "I love you too. Go catch bad guys."

Only moments after they hung up, Joe walked into the shop with Fred in his stroller and Tom lagging behind them, "Hello, Bonnie. I hope you're not terribly busy."

"No, of course not," she smiled at her friend's husband. "What's up?"

"Well, the DI has some questions for Tom," Joe replied nonchalantly, but his demeanor seemed forced. "And I was hoping you could watch Fred? I know you're working, and I would usually leave him with Ellie, but with the case-"

"She needs to concentrate," Bonnie understood. "Of course, I'll watch him. I haven't been able to spend any quality time with the little man since you started staying home."

Joe grinned, "Thank you, Bon. You're a life saver."

"No thanks needed," she said. She smiled at Tom, "All right, Tom?"

The boy weakly nodded, "All right."

Joe said a cutesy goodbye to Fred and thanked Bonnie a few times before he said something that made her think for the rest of the afternoon. "You're a good friend, Bonnie."

* * *

"My computer got nicked, at school. I left it in a bag and then it was gone."

Hardy had called Tom and Joe in, ready to confront the young boy with what he'd attempted to hide when he tried to destroy his laptop.

"Yeah," he sighed, producing the tray and bag of the decimated computer. "You mustn't lie to me, Tom. Paul Coates said you threatened to accuse him of all sorts of shenanigans if he was to give this over to us."

Joe looked at his son, "You threatened the vicar?"

"Why'd you smash it up, Tom?" Hardy asked.

"It had my emails with Danny on it," Tom reluctantly admitted.

Next, Hardy pulled out the stack of papers, print outs of the emails. "And are these your emails?"

"How did you get those?" Tom seemed scared.

"They were stored on your server," he revealed. He flipped through the pages in front of him, "I haven't seen these before. Danny was using a different address to the one on his home computer. You're the only person he wrote to from this address." He paused, making a show of checking the papers, "No, no. I see you and one other person."

"I think he sent them from his phone," Tom guessed.

"Where'd he get his phone from?" the detective asked.

"He said he saved up from his paper round."

Hardy let the silence drag on a bit before he asked, "Why didn't you mention that you and Danny fell out?"

"I thought you already knew." He couldn't tell if Tom was lying or not.

"In these emails, Danny's asking you to stay away from him. Says he doesn't want to see you anymore and you're no longer friends. Why was that?" Hardy asked the boy, in a curious tone.

Tom frowned, staring at his hands, and fidgeting, "He said he found a new friend. Someone who understood him better than me."

Hardy nodded along, "You write to Danny... 'I wish you were dead.' He replies, 'Wishing won't make it happen.' You email back, 'I could kill you if I wanted.'"

"Oh, for God's sake, it's just kids, just boys falling out," Joe interjected.

"Did you kill Danny, Tom?" Hardy asked bluntly.

"Come on!" Joe called out.

Hardy glared at the father, "I'm talking to your son, Joe, not you." He turned back to Tom, lowered his tone. "Now, if you're lying to me, Tom, there'll be very serious consequences. If you want to tell me you were involved in Danny's death..."

Joe stood up, "That's enough. You want to question him like that, we need a solicitor." He gathered his son to leave.

"Fine. We're done for now," Hardy accepted. "We need a DNA sample. Then you can go." He made a show of collecting his evidence before stopping them. "Oh, Tom... What is your shoe size, Tom?"

"A five," Tom replied, confused.

Hardy wrote it down, not looking up as he added, "What about you, Joe?"

"Err...ten," Joe answered as they walked away.

"All right."

* * *

Bonnie had loved entertaining little Fred for the afternoon. It made her ache a certain way for a kind of domestic life she never got to have. But she forced those thoughts away in lieu of worry as the hours passed by and Joe or Tom hadn't popped in to collect Fred yet.

With a bad feeling in her gut, she called Alec.

"Yeah?"

"Joe dropped Fred off here before taking Tom in to meet with you," she phrased carefully. "Are they still there?"

"No, they left," he answered.

"It's weird they haven't come to pick Fred up then," she murmured. "Um, listen, it's fine. I have him, I'll keep him until Ellie arrives. Just let her know he's here and okay if she asks or something."

"Will do, love," he promised. There was something else in his voice. It was a curious situation to him too. Maybe they were thinking the same thing.

* * *

Alec and Ellie stood on the beach underneath the cliffs, wind billowing their hair and coats.

"Sir, why'd you call me all the way down here? What's going on?" Ellie asked the DI.

"I was here before. On this beach. I came here as a kid. With a tent. Some campsite near the cliff. I tried looking for it when I first came," he revealed with vague gesturing to the area around them.

She regarded him with shock, "You came on holiday to Broadchurch?" She hadn't expected to hear that. Especially with his attitude about the town.

"Didn't remember I was here till the day I arrived. It freaked me out. Those bloody cliffs still there," he waved his hands towards them. "Still the same. I used to sit under them and get away from my parents arguing. They kept bickering till the day Mum died. Last thing she ever said to me – 'God will put you in the right place even if you don't know it at the time.'"

"What are you saying that for?" she asked him, sensing something was wrong. He'd never been this open with her about anything, let alone his own past. Their staring at each other was interrupted when her phone rang. She pulled it to her ear, excited to hear what was being reported to her. She looked at him, face perked up. "Danny's phone is on. They're tracing the signal. The killer must have switched it on. They can track the signal."

He held his hand out for her phone, "Get back and question Nigel Carter. Get the truth out of him." Once she handed over the phone, he barked at the person on the other end, "This is Hardy. Will you send the tracking signal coordinates to my phone? Good." Once they hung up, he goaded Miller to go do as told. As she walked away, he called out to her, "Miller..." and once she stopped, he paused and said, "You've done good work on this. Well done."

* * *

"I'm sick of hiding."

59 Days.

59 long days since Danny had been murdered and dumped on the beach, and they finally had their man. Alec Hardy knew exactly where he was going without the tracking data on his phone. It almost made him sick to walk through the Miller household. To see Tom watching television. It was like walking to his own death when he made it to the shed in the backyard to see Joe standing there, wracked with nerves, and with Danny's mobile in his fist.

"I'm sick of hiding."

* * *

"What was the exact nature of your relationship with Danny?"

Joe sat there in a sterile white clean-suit, on his metal chair, face ashen with some telltale emotion, "I was in love with him."

"When did this start?" Hardy kept his tone as even as possible, taking notes as he went.

"About nine months ago. Mark gave Danny a split lip. Danny came round to ours to see Tom. Didn't know where else to go. I fixed him up. We talked," Joe almost sounded like he missed those days. As if things were simpler back then.

"And then what happened?"

Joe rubbed his hands together, "He'd come round to play with Tom. He'd always come and find me. We'd have a chat. He told me he couldn't talk to his dad like that. That's...when we started... meeting, just the two of us."

"Did you tell Ellie or Tom?"

Joe shook his head.

"Why not?" Hardy asked.

"I wanted something that was mine. Ellie has her job. Tom...does his own thing. But Danny... I felt like he needed me," Joe narrated earnestly, a sign of grief and desperation in his eyes.

"Where did Ellie think you were?"

"Running. Cycling. Pub," Joe listed off, face still withdrawn.

"So, you lied about where you were?" Hardy didn't care about that answer. "Did you ever touch him?"

Joe vehemently shook his head, "No. All I ever asked for... was for him to hold me."

"Standing up? Sitting down?" Hardy questioned.

"In a chair."

"Clothed? Naked?"

"Clothed," Joe almost spoke as if he was grossed out by the other possibility. As if what he had been doing hadn't been gross or wrong.

"How long would the hugs last?"

"Why does it matter?" Joe asked.

Hardy leaned forward, "Everything matters. I need the facts, Joe. I need to understand."

"If I can't understand it, why should you!?" Joe shouted, seeming lost and desperate.

Hardy regarded him calmly, "Did you ever give Danny presents?"

Joe heaved a sigh, "Mobile phone. Beginning of the year. Told him not to show Mark and Beth."

"Did you ever give him any cash?" Hardy asked.

"£500. It was part of our spending money for Florida."

"Why did you need to give Danny that amount of money, Joe?" Hardy asked, a curious edge to his voice for Joe's benefit.

Joe almost seemed sad and lonely in his chair. "I wanted him to love me."

Hardy took note. "Two nights ago, why did you call from the hut?"

Joe breathed out through his nose, "I couldn't take any more. I caused Jack's death too. I knew you'd check the number. I wanted it just to be you. To confess. Then I saw Ellie...so... I ran." He looked pleadingly at Hardy. "Does Ellie know?"

"No."

* * *

Ellie Miller was confused and understandably outraged when her boss, Hardy, stormed into her interrogation room and dismissed Nige and his solicitor without pomp or circumstance. And after the others cleared the room and he sat across from her, all serious, she was merely confused.

"I need to ask you a couple of things. Where were you the night of Danny's death?"

"What?" Where was this coming from?

He seemed tired, and gentle, and desperate. "Just... Please. I'll explain. But we just... We need to keep this simple. So, I'll ask questions. You give me the answers."

"What, you think it was me?" she joked weakly.

He didn't so much as twitch in response. "Where were you?"

"Are you serious?" she frowned.

"Please, Ellie," he begged weakly.

"Don't call me Ellie." It sounded wrong to hear her first name in his mouth.

"Tell me where you were the night that Danny Latimer died," he spoke evenly.

"I was at home. We just got back from Florida that morning," she responded curtly.

"So that night... What did you do? Unpack? Get ready for work? What?" he asked her.

"I went to bed. I get terrible jet lag, so I have these pills I take, and they knock me out," she told him.

"What time did you go to bed?" he asked.

"Half seven, eight. Why are you asking me this?" she demanded to know what this was all about. It was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Did you notice Joe come to bed?" he asked, dropping a ball of dread in her stomach.

She shook her head, not waiting for answers anymore, "No. Tell me what's going on." Without a word, he stood and started making his way to her side of the table, taking a seat next to her. He had to break this gently. "What are you doing? Why are you coming around here?"

He looked her in the eyes, "It was Joe. Joe killed Danny Latimer."

She flinched at the words, "No. What the fuck? No, he didn't. He didn't." She was desperate, and her eyes were stinging with tears that felt like acid.

"We have him in custody."

She cringed away from him, stumbling out of her chair and against the wall, retching emptily above the tile ground.

Alec approaching her, crouching next to her and rubbing a hand on her back, "Sorry. It's okay. It's all right."

She faced him, destroyed, "No. S... Susan Wright. She saw Nige. My sister..." She had to believe that her husband wasn't this person.

"No, they saw Joe."

"No," she denied.

"Same build, facial similarities, bald head and a hat. They thought they saw Nige, but they saw Joe," he told her as gently as he possibly could.

"No, it's not Joe. It's not Joe. It's not Joe. Please. You're wrong," she sobbed.

"I'm not."

She stared at him, "I want to see him. I want to see him. I want to see him." She had to see him.

He furrowed his brow at her, "Are you sure?"

"You're not right. I want to see him," she insisted.

So, reluctantly, he marched her down to the interrogation room with Joe inside. He pulled her arm before they could walk in. "You don't touch him. You don't do anything that might jeopardize a conviction."

"What am I gonna do? He's bigger than me and there are cameras everywhere," she pointed out, walking in. When she saw him there in the white suit, she felt as if her whole world was being ripped open and spread over dirt and blood.

He looked like he was seeing a ghost, "El..."

"Sit down," she ordered when he started to stand. "Is it true?"

He gulped, "I never touched...Tom or Fred. I never touched Danny. El... I've always loved you."

"He was 11!" she yelled at him.

He looked like he desperately wanted to cry, "I can't explain it…" He sniffled, and then turned to her with expectantly hopeful eyes, "Can I see Tom?"

This question made her lose it. She started shrieking and attacking him. First smacking him out of the chair and kicking him once he was on the ground. It took two PCs to drag her kicking and screaming out of the room.

* * *

Bonnie was only growing more worried the more time went by. Fred was getting fussy, so she took him up to her apartment to get him something to eat and see if he needed changing. She was feeding him some bananas when her phone rang from Alec calling her.

"Alec?"

"We've made an arrest, gotten a confession," he told her. "I need you to do some things for me, okay?"

"Okay?" she answered, confused.

"Pack up Fred's things," he said. "Pete's going to come by to pick him up for Ellie. I'm going to tell the Latimers about the arrest at 5 PM. And perhaps you'd like to be there? It may help to have a friendly face."

She took a deep breath, keeping her voice quiet – even though Fred wouldn't understand her – and asked, "It was Joe, oh god. Wasn't it?"

"I can't say anything now," he said quickly. "I'll be making a statement after I speak with the family. Now, I need to go brief the team. I'll meet you at their house?"

"I'll head over after Pete gets Fred," she told him before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

* * *

When Ellie was calm enough in his office, Hardy hung up with Bonnie and walked in, "We booked you a family room at the hotel on the roundabout. Pete will meet you there with Tom and Fred. You can pick some stuff up on the way. Don't talk to anyone. Shut the curtains. Lock the door. Don't answer the phone to anyone that isn't me."

She nodded weakly, "If you need me to do anything on the paperwork or stuff I've been following up, my desk's a mess." They didn't say anything for a moment. She looked so sad, "Tell me this isn't happening." They were interrupted when the PC poked his head in. "Is this my car?"

He nodded.

"Thanks, Dom," Hardy said in dismissal. Looking at Ellie, he said, "I'll see you soon."

* * *

Hardy faced all the ashen and shocked faces of his team, "At 5pm, I'll tell the family. I'll then make a short statement to the media. And then we all need to be on hand because this information is gonna run a crack through this community. You all know DS Miller. She has been removed from the case and put on leave with full pay. There is no suggestion that she knew. All right? There is no suggestion that she covered anything up. You're her colleagues and her friends. This is unthinkable for her. She'll need you. She'll need all of us."

* * *

Bonnie felt gutted to approach the Latimers' door just minutes before five pm. She smiled as much as she could when Beth answered, "Hello. I hope I'm not intruding."

"Course not," Beth waved her in.

"I just wanted to check in," she made excuses. "I really don't want to be a bother."

"Never you," Beth assured her friend.

Bonnie smiled and waved to Liz on the couch, "Hiya Liz. How are you feeling?"

Liz sighed and went to answer, but there was another knock on the door. Mark appeared from the kitchen to answer the door, coming back with Alec, who greeted all.

"Um, maybe we could all take a seat," he said. On pins and needles, the small family gathered on the couch. Alec sank into the chair across from them while Bonnie stood by Beth's side, ready to comfort her when the harsh truth dropped down on them. "Okay. We have charged someone with Danny's murder."

A collective breath was let out by the four of them. Beth whispered, "Oh, God. I don't want to know," as she covered her hand with her mouth.

"That's good," Mark muttered.

"Is it someone we know?" Beth asked.

The silence before Alec revealed the truth was the loudest Bonnie had ever suffered. "It's Joe Miller."

The family was collectively stunned into silence for a few moments. Chloe uttered, "Oh, my God."

Liz merely seemed confused. "No, it can't be. They only live across the field."

"He and Danny had been...meeting in secret for the last few months," Alec explained to them. It made them all flinch. Beth reached blindly for Bonnie's hand, and almost broke the bones in her fingers from squeezing it so hard. But Bonnie only squeezed her right back. "We can't tell you much more, but we do believe that we have the right person."

"What about Ellie?" Beth asked.

"She didn't know."

There was a simmering anger and disbelief inside of Beth. Bonnie wished she could step in then. But it wasn't her place. She knew that Ellie had no idea. She knew that family and love could blind you.

Mark apparently couldn't take it anymore as he stood and stormed out of the house. The door slamming punctuated Alec's calling out after him.

"Are you sure?" Beth asked after he left.

"We're fairly certain. Yeah."

"No... No," the women whimpered together. Bonnie hugged Beth, and Chloe, with Liz hugging them from the other side.

* * *

Cameras flashed in Hardy's face as he made his official, yet vague statement, "A 38-year-old man from Broadchurch has today been charged with the murder of Daniel Latimer. Danny's family have been informed and ask for privacy at this time."

Bonnie was watching from her apartment. Beth had been grateful she was there to share in the horrible news with them. But Bonnie felt it was only right for her to give them time with each other. Not before promising to be there for them, whatever they may need.

"As the senior investigating officer, I would ask that the town is now left alone to come to terms with what took place here. We're not looking for anyone else in relation to the killing. This has been a delicate, complex investigation, and it has left its mark on a close-knit town. Now is the time for Broadchurch to be left... to grieve and heal, away from the spotlight. Thank you."

Some cameras tried to follow him as reported shouted out questions. But the unbelievably tired looking man simply walked away. He had finally done what he set out to do. It was over.

* * *

Bonnie wasn't surprised that he didn't come to her right away. He had work to do still. A desk to clean out. She decided to busy herself cooking, since the store had promptly closed when the news hit that there'd been an arrest. People were already speculating. Denise had even asked her if she knew who was charged – given her relationship with DI Hardy. But she kept quiet. She urged anyone who asked to just give the Latimers space, and that all would be known soon enough.

It felt sick to her. She remembered the feel of his hands on her throat as they had been on Danny's. She remembered the anger, sadness, and fear Danny felt with his dying breaths. To know that Joe was responsible, was unthinkable. Her friend's husband. A man she had babysat for. She had dinner in his house. Ate his food. He had even bandaged up her ankle when she took a small tumble down the stairs her first year in Broadchurch. And she couldn't reconcile that man with the man who did this.

But it was true. And she had to accept the exceptionally hard and harsh truth being forced upon her and everyone else in town. It was over. But it wasn't.

It was late when Alec showed up, looking haggard and tired. She hated herself for it – but when she saw him, she wondered what this all meant. He'd made an arrest, charged Joe. The case was over. Hell, his career as a detective may be over due to his heart condition. There was the trial, but other than that he had no real reason to stick around. She wondered if he would stay.

But she didn't bring those thoughts up as he walked in and hugged her. She hugged him back as hard as she could, holding in her emotions, "How are you feeling now?"

"This wasn't what I wanted," he murmured into her hair.

"Of course not," she hummed, pulling back. "But you didn't do this. He did. And it's not fair that we all have to deal with the fallout. But that's it. Right now, you can't do anything else. So, you're going to eat a good meal, get some rest. That's it."

* * *

After her sister and Olly arrived at her room to watch Fred and Tom for her, Ellie knew what she had to do. Standing in the verge outside the Latimer household felt like waiting to be executed. When she saw Beth in the bedroom window, her guts had practically spilled out onto the grass. And while Beth walked out to her in the middle of the night, she felt like she got stabbed.

"How could you not know?"

* * *

"How could any adult be in love with an 11-year-old boy?"

It was late when a tearful Ellie showed up to _Between the Pages,_ but Bonnie didn't mind. She let the woman in and gave her a cup of tea. She'd tried to get Alec to sleep, but he hadn't even changed his clothes. She had slipped into pajamas but found she couldn't rest enough to even get close to sleeping either. It was like they were shot with electricity by Joe's arrest.

Ellie looked lost and cushioned chair across from the couch that held Alec and Bonnie. "Is he a pedophile? The pathologist said there was no record of abuse on Danny, either historic or recent. I asked Tom and he said Joe never touched him, so what does that make him?"

"Why do you need a category?" Alec asked her.

"I need to understand," she insisted.

He sighed, leaning into Bonnie's lightly massaging hand on his back between his shoulders, "Well... Just because he didn't abuse either boy... it doesn't mean that he wouldn't have gone on to."

"Doesn't mean he would have, either," Ellie quickly interject.

Alec sighed, "No. We'll never be sure. He said he was in love. Maybe he was romanticizing to justify what he felt. Or...or maybe that's as it was. I don't have these answers. People are unknowable. And... You can never really know what goes on inside someone else's heart."

"I should have seen it," Ellie murmured.

"How?"

"I'm a bloody detective," she ground out. "Miller the brilliant copper who was lying next to the murderer."

"Ellie, this isn't on you," Bonnie spoke softly. "People don't see that kind of darkness in the people they love."

Ellie looked away, "I want to kill him." She then looked at Alec, searching, "When did you suspect?"

Alec laid his hand on Bonnie's knee just behind him, "Last day or so. There was an email account on Danny's missing phone. He only had two contacts. It was just Tom...and Joe, so..."

She scoffed to herself, "All along, you said: Don't trust."

Alec looked at her, feeling her pain, "I really wanted to be wrong."

* * *

When the funeral came along, Ellie knew it was inappropriate for her to attend. Alec made an appearance but thought it best if Bonnie sit with the others, instead of apart from them all with him. She still gave him a domestic kiss on their way out of the shop. She ended up walking in with Maggie, the woman looking utterly apologetic for their last encounter. It was surreal to be in Church again. Twice in a month when she'd never attended in her adult life.

She was still reeling from the sheer reality that they were all finally mourning Danny and putting him to rest.

"The Bible says: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger... and clamor and slander... be put away from you, along with all malice," Paul said up on his podium. "Be kind to one another. Tender-hearted. Forgive one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Bonnie was barely startled when she felt Danny take her hand, appearing next to her. He smiled at her, feeling lighter than ever before.

"After what we've been through... I don't know. But we have a responsibility to ourselves and to our God... to try."

* * *

Beth had flagged Bonnie down on her way out of the Church, talking about the lighting ceremony they were doing tonight for Danny, and asking her to walk with them on their part of the cliff. With the family. Bonnie initially refused, that was for their family.

"You were with us when they told us he was dead, and when they told us who did it," Beth said. "You were the only one who didn't push your advice on me or tell me what to do. I want for you to be there."

"Then of course I will," she finally agreed.

It felt strange to kiss Alec goodbye later that night and walk with Beth and Liz and Mark with Chloe and her boyfriend Dean walking behind them. When they got to their spot, Beth was the one to light up their bonfire, after the vicar lighted up theirs down the cliff side.

Meanwhile, Ellie sat with Hardy on the cement walk-up to the beach, watching the lights. He asked her, "What'll you do?"

"Go somewhere else, give the kids a fresh start," she answered. That's all she could do.

"Your life is here," he pointed out.

"How can I walk down the high street now?" she asked. She looked at him, "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm done. Medicalled out. It's all over," he responded, eerily casual about it.

"Look at us. Former detectives club," she joked.

When Bonnie saw the fires being lit up all along the cliffs down the beach, she felt a sense of unity that the town had lost. Maybe they would be able to heal.

She caught sight of Danny again, and felt in her bones that it would be the last time. He was on the cliff just behind them, smiling, at peace. She had heard of something, a theory of her mother's, that she never had cause to test or believe until now. But maybe it could work.

"Beth," she called the mother's attention to her. When she turned to her, her face was eerily blank, but curious and sad. Beth smiled softly and took her hand, gesturing with her head towards the edge of the cliff. Beth's whole face dropped in shock when she saw her son. She couldn't believe her eyes. She almost sobbed out loud when Danny smiled and waved at her. She harshly closed her eyes. And when she opened them, he was gone.

Beth clenched her friend's hand, "Was that real? Was he there?"

Bonnie smiled, leaving the explanation simple, "Yes. And he's happy now. He's okay."

Crying, Beth clutched her friend and took in the whole moment, of the whole town and all the people she cared about sharing in her pain, her family's pain, and their grief process. They'd share in their healing as well.

* * *

It was two days later when she finally got around to asking him the question.

"Where will you go now?"

He heaved a great big sigh, as he always did, and said from across the kitchen table, "I dunno. Depends on what job I can get now."

"Do you think you'll go back to Sandbrook?" she asked insecurely. "Closer to Daisy."

"I wouldn't do it to be closer to Tess, if that's what you're worried about." As he said it, he didn't look at her, peering at the paper through his reading glasses.

She blushed and dug her face back into her tea.

With a small smirk, he stood from his seat and walked over to her, kneeling next to her. "Let's not worry so much."

She rose her eyebrow at him, " _You're_ telling me not to worry?"

He chuckled, "That should tell you to listen to me, shouldn't it?"

She laughed with him, resting her chin on her palm, "I love you, Alec."

Breathing out slowly, he took her hand in his and kissed it, "I love you as well."

* * *

 **There's the end of Broadchurch. Or at least, for this installment of it. The Sequel: Sandbrook, will be up soon, I promise.**

 **REVIEW!**

 **RegalGirl94**


	14. Sandbrook

**Hey guys! Just letting know that I've published the second series now, titled Sandbrook! Go check it out!**


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